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BULLETIN  No.  231 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 

AN  ECONOMIC  STUDY  OF  THEIR  USE  ON  FARMS 
IN  CENTRAL  ILLINOIS 


BY  W.  F.  HANDSCHIN,  J.  B.  ANDREWS, 
AND  E.  RAUCHENSTEIN 


URBANA,  ILLINOIS,  FEBRUARY,  1921 


CONTENTS  OF  BULLETIN  No.  231 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION    171 

PART  1:   NATURE   OF   THE   STUDY 175 

Areas  studied    175 

Data  Available   175 

Seasonal  Variations  176 

Type  of  Horses  Used 176 

Importance  of  Studying  Horse-Labor  Costs 176 

PART  II :   THE  COST  OF  HORSE  LABOR 178 

Various  Items  Entering  Into  the  Cost  of  Keeping  Horses.  178 

Total   Cost  of   Keeping  Horses 179 

Measurement   of  Horse-Labor   Efficiency 181 

Variations  in  Horse-Labor  Efficiency 183 

Influence  of  Cost  per  Hour  on  the  Cost  per  Acre 185 

PART  III:  REDUCING  THE  COST  OF  HORSE  LABOR 187 

Reducing  the  Net  Carrying  Cost 187 

Securing  a  Large  Amount  of  Work  per  Horse 189 

Significant  Illustrations  of  Variations  in  the  Distribution 
of  Horse  Labor 199 

PART  IV:   ANALYSIS  OF  FARM  HORSE-POWER  REQUIREMENTS. 202 

Classification  of  all  Farm  Operations 202 

Analysis  of  All  Work  Done  on  All  Farms,  1913  to  1917. .  .206 

PART  V:   THE'  TRACTOR   SURVEY 210 

Location  and  Distribution  of  Tractors  Studied 210 

General   Summary  of  Tractor  Data 210 

Basis  for  Studying  the  Use  of  the  Tractor 212 

Possibilities  in  Using   Tractors 216 

SUMMARY   221 

CONCLUSIONS  .  ..223 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 

AN  ECONOMIC  STUDY  OF  THEIR  USE  ON  FARMS 
IN  CENTRAL  ILLINOIS 

BY  W.  F.  HANDSCHIN,  CHIEF  IN  FARM  ORGANIZATION  AND  MANAGEMENT,  AND 
J.  B.  ANDREWS  AND  E.  BAUCHENSTEIN,  ASSOCIATES 

INTRODUCTION 

The  working  out  of  scientific  methods  in  management  has  been 
one  of  the  most  important  advances  made  in  American  industry  dur- 
ing the  past  twenty  years.  Scientific  management  has  enabled  the 
business  man  to  make  great  economies  in  time,  energy,  and  material 
used,  and  has  resulted  in  greatly  increasing  the  output  per  worker 
in  nearly  every  important  American  industry. 

The  same  is  true  in  agriculture  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  altho 
this  fact  is  not  generally  appreciated,  even  by  farmers  themselves. 
The  substitution  of  farm  machinery  and  horse  power  for  hand  labor, 
alone,  increased  the  output  of  the  farm  worker  in  the  United  States 
from  two  and  one-half  to  twenty  times  during  the  period  from  1830 
to  1895,  most  of  this  change  taking  place  between  1865  and  1895. 
Important  improvements  in  the  use  of  machinery  and  horse  power 
have  been  made  since  1900. 

The  remarkable  record  in  food  production  made  by  American 
farmers  during  the  war  ranks  second  to  the  achievement  of  no  other 
industry.  This  record  was  made  possible  mainly  by  the  increased 
use  of  machinery  and  horse  power  and  the  improvement  in  methods 
of  management.  Naturally,  as  in  all  other  industries,  the  farmer  and 
his  family  worked  harder  than  ever  before  in  order  to  overcome  the 
shortage  of  man  labor.  But  even  in  normal  times  the  output  per 
worker  on  the  American  farm  greatly  exceeds  that  of  any  other  na- 
tion. This  fact  is  due  to  the  abundant  supply  of  good  land,  the  sub- 
stitution of  machinery  and  horse  power  for  hand  labor,  and  to  the 
methods  of  management  employed. 

In  spite  of  these  facts,  we  are  apt  to  speak  as  tho  all  the  advances 
in  improving  methods  of  production  and  in  working  out  scientific 
methods  of  management  had  been  made  in  the  city  industries.  This 
somewhat  earlier  development  of  scientific  management  in  industry 
as  compared  with  the  development  in  agriculture  has  been  due  largely 
to  the  fact  that  manufacturing,  merchandising,  and  transportation 
have  been  carried  on  in  relatively  larger  units  than  has  the  business 
of  farming.  These  industries  have  thus  been  enabled  to  install  cost- 

171 


172  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

accounting  systems  and  to  take  up  the  problems  of  scientific  manage- 
ment in  their  individual  businesses.  The  study  of  these  problems  in 
a  large  number  of  individual  plants  has  furnished  the  basis  for  the 
development  of  the  whole  field  of  scientific  management  in  industry. 

Because  farming  has  been  carried  on  in  small  units  as  compared 
with  other  industry,  it  has  not  been  possible  for  the  individual  farmer 
to  make  detailed  studies  of  his  business  with  a  view  to  improving 
production  and  introducing  scientific  methods  in  management.  How- 
ever, the  investigation  of  these  problems  has  been  undertaken  during 
recent  years  by  a  number  of  public  institutions  somewhat  specially 
equipped  for  carrying  on  such  studies. 

In  1902  the  University  of  Minnesota,  in  cooperation  with  the 
Bureau  of  Statistics  of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, 
began  a  series  of  studies  in  the  cost  of  producing  farm  crops  in 
Minnesota.  These  studies  have  been  carried  on  continuously  during 
the  past  eighteen  years.  In  the  meantime  their  scope  has  been  en- 
larged to  include  the  study  of  costs  for  all  farm  products  and  the 
entire  problem  of  the  scientific  organization  and  operation  of  the 
farm  as  a  business  unit.  These  studies  have  been  of  great  value  in 
furnishing  the  beginnings  of  a  scientific  basis  for  the  study  of  the 
individual  farm  business.  Other  institutions  have  taken  up  work 
along  these  lines  during  the  past  ten  years.  Most  prominent,  per- 
haps, have  been  the  Office  of  Farm  Management  of  the  United  States 
Department  of  Agriculture,  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  Cornell 
University,  and  the  University  of  Illinois.  Several  others  have  made 
a  substantial  beginning. 

From  these  studies  alone,  a  considerable  amount  of  valuable  in- 
formation has  been  assembled  regarding  the  scientific  organization 
and  operation  of  farms  in  various  sections  of  the  country.  The  pos- 
sibilities which  this  information  affords  in  improving  the  methods 
of  management  in  farming  become  apparent  when  we  note  the  high 
degree  of  skill  which  has  been  developed  by  a  very  considerable  num- 
ber of  individual  farmers  thruout  the  country  in  the  scientific  man- 
agement of  their  farms,  and  this  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  them- 
selves have  scarcely  been  conscious  of  having  worked  at  the  problem. 
And  yet  only  a  fair  beginning  has  been  made  in  getting  at  the  prin- 
cipal facts  in  the  successful  organization  and  operation  of  farms.  It 
has  been  necessary  not  only  to  collect  and  classify  the  facts,  but  also 
to  construct  a  language  in  which  to  discuss  them.  The  literature  of 
the  subject  is  almost  entirely  undeveloped. 

One  of  the  most  important  needs  at  the  present  time  is  the  analyz- 
ing and  translating  of  the  facts  being  gathered  on  the  more  successful 
farms  into  terms  of  principles  and  working  formulae  which  may  be 
applied  to  other  farms  carrying  on  the  same  types  of  farming  under 
similar  conditions.  Naturally,  as  the  field  of  scientific  management 


li>Sl]  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  173 

in  agriculture  develops,  more  refined  methods  of  studying  the  or- 
ganization and  operation  of  farms  will  be  worked  out,  and  the 
studies  will  be  extended  to  include  every  important  type  of  farming. 
In  Illinois  the  study  of  farm  organization  and  management  has 
been  under  way  since  1912.  The  work  has  been  along  the  three  fol- 
lowing lines: 

First:  Detailed  accounting  and  management  investigations  car- 
ried on  in  several  sections  of  the  state  during  the  past  seven  years. 
These  studies  were  undertaken  by  the  Department  of  Animal  Hus- 
bandry in  1912,  as  a  part  of  their  investigation  of  systems  of  live- 
stock farming.  In  1917,  when  the  Department  of  Farm  Organization 
and  Management  was  organized,  the  work  was  transferred  to  that 
department,  in  which  it  is  being  continued. 

These  studies  have  included  the  keeping  of  detailed  cost  accounts 
for  each  of  the  farms  studied.  Complete  production  records  for  all 
the  crop  and  animal  enterprizes  have  been  kept,  as  well  as  detailed 
records  of  man  labor,  horse  labor,  and  machinery  use.  These  records 
have  afforded  the  opportunity  to  make  detailed  analysis  of  the  work 
done  on  the  farm  studied  from  the  standpoint  of  the  amount  and 
kind  of  work  done,  and  its  distribution  thruout  the  various  months. 

Second:  General  farm  accounts  kept  on  several  hundred  farms 
in  some  twenty  different  counties  in  central  Illinois.  These  accounts 
have  been  kept  in  connection  with  the  extension  work  carried  on  by 
the  Department  of  Farm  Organization  and  Management  during  the 
years  1915  to  1918  inclusive.  They  have  included  a  financial  record 
of  the  farm  business,  an  annual  inventory,  a  record  of  farm  receipts 
and  expenses,  and  records  of  production  for  both  crop  and  animal 
enterprizes. 

Third:  Survey  studies  carried  on  during  the  fall  of  1918  in  co- 
operation with  one  hundred  farmers  operating  tractors  in  six  central 
Illinois  counties.  These  studies  were  undertaken  to  learn  what  re- 
sults farmers  were  getting  in  the  use  of  tractors  under  actual  farm 
conditions.1 

Problems  in  the  use  of  horse  labor  were  selected  for  special  study 
and  publication  at  this  time  because  of  the  wide  interest  in  these 
questions  on  the  part  of  farmers,  especially  in  the  corn-belt  section. 
This  interest  is  based  mainly  on  two  factors:  first,  a  more  general 
appreciation  by  farmers  that  horse  labor  makes  up  a  relatively  large 
part  of  all  farm  operating  expense,  and  that  it,  above  all  other  items 
of  expense,  is  the  one  which  can  be  profitably  reduced  by  good  meth- 
ods of  farm  organization  and  operation;  and  second,  the  great  in- 

1  Additional  tractor-survey  records  have  been  secured  during  1919  and  1920. 
These  include  data  from  more  than  four  hundred  farms  which  have  used  tractors 
from  one  to  six  years.  These  farms  are  located  in  nineteen  counties  in  northern, 
central,  and  southern  Illinois. 


174  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

crease  in  the  number  of  tractor  manufacturers  and  the  use  of  tractors 
during  the  past  few  years. 

The  increased  output  of  farm  tractors  and  the  large  amount  of 
advertising  being  done  by  those  interested  in  their  further  introduc- 
tion make  it  desirable  to  give  to  farmers  at  this  time  any  informa- 
tion which  may  be  of  help  to  them  in  solving  their  problems  in  the 
most  economical  use  of  farm  power.  Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  farm 
tractor  is  still  in  its  formative  period,  any  studies  as  to  its  use  and 
the  extent  of  its  application  made  at  the  present  time  must  of  course 
be  considered  as  preliminary.  The  results  herein  reported  are,  it  is 
believed,  fairly  representative  of  the  experience  of  general  farmers 
in  the  areas  studied.  With  the  advance  being  made  in  tractor  manu- 
facture and  design,  it  is  obvious  that  such  studies  should  be  con- 
tinued each  year.  Naturally  these  studies  should  include  a  greater 
number  of  farms  and  should  cover  each  of  the  important  types  of 
farming  areas  where  tractors  are  being  introduced. 

Special  acknowledgment  is  due  Professor  E.  A.  White,  formerly 
head  of  the  division  of  Farm  Mechanics,  and  Professor  J.  L.  Edmonds, 
head  of  the  division  of  Horse  Husbandry,  for  valuable  assistance  ren- 
dered in  these  studies.  Special  credit  is  also  due  to  the  group  of  some 
thirty  farmers  who  have  cooperated  painstakingly  in  the  detailed 
cost-accounting  studies  carried  on  during  these  investigations. 


1921}  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  175 

PART  I 
NATURE  OF  THE  STUDY 

AREAS  STUDIED 

The  data  on  the  cost  and  use  of  horse  labor  reported  in  the  follow- 
ing pages  are  based  mainly  on  cost-accounting  and  general-manage- 
ment studies  carried  on  in  Hancock  county,  Illinois,  during  the  years 
1913  to  1918  inclusive. 

Hancock  county  is  a  typical  live-stock  farming  section.  Corn  is 
the  principal  crop  grown.  Oats  rank  second  in  importance,  with 
hay,  principally  clover  and  timothj-,  ranking  third.  Fall  wheat  and 
rye  are  grown  to  a  considerable  extent.  The  wheat  acreage  declined 
from  1910  to  1915,  but  has  increased  since  that  time.  Practically 
all  the  crops  grown,-  with  the  exception  of  wheat,  rye,  and  some  hay, 
are  fed  within  the  county.  Some  corn  is  occasionally  shipped  in. 
Beef  cattle  and  hogs  make  up  a  very  large  proportion  of  all  farm 
products  sold.  Dairying  and  the  production  of  sheep  and  wool  are 
relatively  unimportant.  The  general  type  of  farming  carried  on  is 
fairly  representative  of  the  entire  area  lying  between  the  Illinois  and 
the  Mississippi  rivers.  This  area  is  by  far  the  most  important  gen- 
oral  live-stock-producing  region  of  the  state. 

Most  of  the  farms  included  in  these  studies  are  practically  all  till- 
able. They  grow  a  somewhat  smaller  proportion  of  corn  and  a  some- 
what larger  proportion  of  hay  and  wheat  than  is  generally  grown 
on  farms  in  east-central  Illinois.  From  the  standpoint  of  the  crop- 
ping systems  used  and  the  horse-labor  requirements  of  crop  produc- 
tion they  may  be  considered  fairly  representative  of  the  entire  west- 
central  section  of  the  state. 

DATA  AVAILABLE 

While  the  greater  part  of  the  data  presented  was  obtained  on 
some  twelve  different  farms  included  in  the  detailed-accounting 
and  general-management  studies  carried  on  in  Hancock  county, 
similar  data  were  available  for  farms  in  several  other  sections  of  the 
state.  Detailed  accounts  were  kept  on  six  to  ten  general  farms  in 
Franklin  county  during  the  period  from  1913  to  1918  inclusive.  In- 
dividual farms  were  studied  in  three  additional  areas  of  the  state : 
one  general  farm  in  Eandolph  county  during  the  five  years  from  1914 
to  1918,  one  grain  and  live-stock  farm  in  Champaign  county  during 
the  five  years  1914  to  1918,  and  one  large  cattle-feeding  farm  in 
Henry  county  during  the  three  years  1915  to  1917.  In  the  aggregate, 
detailed  accounts,  including  the  determination  of  costs,  were  available 
for  one  hundred  and  twelve  farm  years,  i.e.,  an  average  of  22.4  farms 
for  each  of  the  five  years  1913  to  1917.  In  addition  to  this,  some 


176  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

four  hundred  simple  farm  accounts  were  available  for  study.  These 
included  data  as  to  the  area  in  various  crops,  the  number  of  work 
horses  carried,  the  amount  of  live  stock  produced,  the  yields,  and  gen- 
eral financial  results  of  the  farm  business.  These  simple  farm  ac- 
counts were  for  the  years  1915  to  1918  inclusive  and  represented 
twenty  different  counties  in  the  central  section  of  the  state. 

The  records  on  the  use  of  farm  tractors  were  obtained  during  the 
fall  of  1918  by  means  of  personal  interviews  with  one  hundred  farm- 
ers each  of  whom  had  used  his  tractor  one  or  more  years.  The  farms 
represented  in  this  study  are  located  in  six  central  Illinois  counties. 

SEASONAL  VARIATIONS 

During  the  period  covered  by  these  studies,  wide  seasonal  varia- 
tions occurred  in  the  different  areas.  These  included  variations  in 
rainfall,  frost  dates,  and  other  factors  having  a  vital  influence  on 
crop  production  and  the  use  of  horse  labor.  For  example,  while  the 
average  annual  rainfall  for  Hancock  county  during  the  period  from 
1913  to  1916  was  30.82  inches,  the  annual  rainfall  varied  from  25.94 
inches  in  1914  to  38.93  inches  in  1915.  For  the  months  of  May,  June, 
and  July,  during  which  the  peak  load  of  horse  labor  usually  comes, 
the  following  extreme  variations  in  rainfall  occurred  between  the  dif- 
ferent years:  In  May,  1914,  the  rainfall  was  1.73  inches;  in  May, 
1915,  5.79  inches.  In  June,  1914,  the  rainfall  was  3.34  inches;  in 
June,  1915,  9.99  inches.  In  July,  1914,  the  rainfall  was  2.09  inches; 
in  July,  1915,  6.34  inches.  Such  variations  in  rainfall  during  the 
cropping  season  bring  about  great  changes  in  the  use  of  horse  labor 
during  different  years.  Because  of  this  variation  alone  it  is  impor- 
tant to  have  records  covering  several  consecutive  years  before  an 
attempt  is  made  to  draw  conclusions  regarding  the  use  of  horse  labor 
and  the  horse-labor  requirement  of  different  crops. 

TYPE  OF  HORSES  USED 

The  size  and  type  of  horses  used  in  Hancock  county  and  the  gen- 
eral methods  of  feeding  and  management  followed  are  considered 
fairly  typical  of  the  entire  central  and  northern  portions  of  the  state. 
Most  of  the  horses  showed  a  predominance  of  Percheron  blood.  With 
but  few  exceptions  they  ranged  in  age  from  three  to  fifteen  years,  and 
varied  in  weight  from  1,300  to  1,500  pounds.  They  were  kept  pri- 
marily for  draft  purposes.  A  few  colts  were  produced  on  practically 
all  the  farms  studied,  but  no  mares  were  used  exclusively  for  breed- 
ing purposes. 

IMPORTANCE  OF  STUDYING  HORSE-LABOR  COSTS 

Profits  in  farming,  as  in  any  other  business,  are  determined  by 
the  operating  expense  quite  as  much  as  by  the  gross  income,  and  as 


1921]  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  177 

in  most  other  enterprizes,  the  operating  expense  is  the  only  item 
which  can  be  controlled  to  any  great  extent.  In  attempting  to  reduce 
the  expense  of  production  in  ordinary  types  of  farming,  horse  labor 
offers  a  larger  opportunity  than  any  other  item,  since  it  makes  up  a 
relatively  large  proportion  of  all  operating  expense  and  can  be  more 
favorably  influenced  by  good  farm  organization  and  operation  than 
can  any  other  item. 

In  the  types  of  farming  studied,  man  and  horse  labor  together 
make  up  from  80  to  90  percent  of  the  total  operating  expense,  horse 
labor  alone  making  up  30  to  40  percent.  While  man  labor  represents 
a  somewhat  larger  proportion  than  does  horse  labor,  it  does  not  offer 
so  large  an  opportunity  for  better  utilization  since  in  most  cases  it 
is  being  used  to  much  greater  advantage,  and  moreover  it  can  be  laid 
off,  thereby  stopping  expense,  wrhen  there  is  no  work  to  be  done. 

Other  items  of  farm  operating  expense,  such  as  fertilizers,  twine, 
seed,  spray  materials,  threshing,  silo  filling,  baling  hay,  telephone, 
and  other  miscellaneous  cash  costs,  make  up  a  relatively  small  pro- 
portion of  the  total  operating  expense.  These  are  necessities  which 
must  be  purchased  at  fixed  prices  and  they  therefore  offer  little  op- 
portunity for  economies  in  operation. 

While  the  operating  expense  in  the  types  of  farming  studied  makes 
up  only  from  45  to  65  percent  of  the  total  farm  expense,  the  other 
items  of  expense  offer  little  opportunity  for  making  economies.  Most 
of  these  are  made  up  by  such  fixed,  or  overhead,  charges  as  interest 
011  the  investment  in  land,  buildings,  and  equipment,  and  the  de- 
preciation on  buildings,  machinery,  and  tools.  Few  of  these  items  can 
be  materially  reduced.  They  are  therefore  relatively  unimportant  in 
the  problem  of  reducing  the  total  farm  expense. 


178 


BULLETIN  No.  231 


PART  II 


[February, 


THE  VARIOUS  ITEMS  ENTERING  INTO  THE  COST  OF  KEEPING  HORSES 

The  costs  which  enter  into  the  keeping  of  farm  horses  are  feed, 
labor  or  care,  shelter,  interest  on  investment,  harness  expense,  and 
miscellaneous  cash  expense,  such  as  veterinary  service  and  shoeing. 
The  relative  importance  of  each  of  these  items  as  found  on  the  farms 
of  Hancock  county  under  investigation  during  the  years  1913  to  1918 
is  shown  in  Table  1  and  Fig.  1. 

As  an  average  of  these  six  years,  feed  represented  72  percent  of 
the  total  cost  of  keeping  work  horses  and  may  therefore  be  consid- 
ered the  most  important  item.  The  percentage  of  the  total  cost  made 
up  by  feed  increased  from  67.5  percent  in  1913  to  78.8  percent  in 
1917,  which  may  be  explained  by  the  fact  that  between  these  years 
the  cost  of  the  feed  used  increased  more  rapidly  than  did  the  cost  of 
other  items.  The  percentage  decreased  slightly  in  1918,  owing  to  the 
fact  that  the  other  items  of  cost  increased  relatively  more  than  did 
feed. 


INTERESimSHELTER m HARNESS 


FIG.  1. — PERCENTAGE  WHICH  EACH  ITEM  OF  EXPENSE  CONSTITUTED  OF  THE 
TOTAL  COST  OF  HORSE  LABOR,  1913-1918 


1M1] 
TABLE  1. 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


179 


-PERCENTAGE  WHICH  EACH  ITEM  OF  EXPENSE  CONSTITUTES  OF  THE 
TOTAL  COST  OF  HORSE  LABOR,  1913-1918 


Feed 

Labor 

Interest 

Shelter 

Harness 

Mise. 

1913   

Percent 
67.5 

Percent 
13.5 

Percent 
9.8 

Percent 
4.3 

Percent 
3.7 

Percent 
1.2 

1914  

68.0 

12.3 

10.0 

3.3 

3.9 

2.5 

1915  

68.7 

12.3 

8.8 

3.5 

4.4 

2.3 

1916  

70.7 

118 

8.0 

3.2 

3.5 

2.8 

1917   

78.8 

90 

6  0 

2  2 

28 

12 

1918  

78.0 

8.7 

5.6 

2.1 

2.4 

3.2 

Average.  .  . 

71.95 

11.28 

8.03 

3.10 

3.44 

2.2 

The  cost  of  shelter  did  not  increase  during  this  period  because  the 
chief  items  of  building  expense,  that  is,  interest  and  depreciation, 
were  based  upon  the  value  of  buildings  as  inventoried  before  the  rapid 
rise  in  prices. 

The  interest  on  investment  in  horses  shows  no  increase,  since  the 
value  of  horses  actually  decreased  during  the  five  years  and  there 
was  no  change  in  the  interest  rate  used. 

Harness  expense  was  also  determined  on  the  basis  of  the  pre-war 
values  because  most  of  the  harness  was  on  hand  before  prices  began 
to  rise.  Some  harness  was  purchased  at  increased  prices  but  not 
enough  to  affect  materially  the  total  expense. 

Miscellaneous  expenses  were  small.  With  these  expenses,  variations 
do  not  depend  so  much  upon  price  variations  as  upon  the  amount  of 
such  miscellaneous  items  used. 

TOTAL  COST  OF  KEEPING  HORSES 

The  total  cost  of  keeping  farm  work  horses  is  determined  largely 
by  their  care  and  management,  and  by  the  amount,  kind,  and  price 
of  feed  used.  The  average  annual  costs  of  keeping  one  horse  during 
the  years  1913  to  1918  on  the  farms  studied  are  given  in  Table  2  and 
Fisr.  2. 

TABLE  2. — AVERAGE  ANNUAL  COST  OF  KEEPING  ONE  HORSE,  1913-1918 


Year 

Feed         Labor 

Interest 

Shelter 

Harness 

Misc. 

Total 

1913  

$59.27        $11  88 

$8.58 

$3  73 

$324 

$1  09 

$87.79 

1914  

59.19           10  69 

8  72 

2  91 

3  36 

2  22 

8709 

1915  

65.90           11.85 

8.43 

339 

427 

2.18 

96.02 

1916  
1917  

63.73           10.66 
103  18           11  80 

7.24 
7  79 

2.87 
2  91 

3.16 
3  72 

2.50 
1  54 

90.16 
130  94 

1918.. 

122.14           13.66 

8.78 

3.29 

3.75 

4.96 

156.58 

Depreciation  in  work  horses1  does  not  appear  as  an  item  of  ex- 
pense because  of  the  fact  that  the  horse  account,  as  kept,  is  practi- 


1A11  horses  three  years  old  or  over  are  counted  as  work  horses  in  these  studies. 


180 


BULLETIN  No.  231 


[February, 


1914  \    IQI5       IS  16  \    1917  \   /3/<3 


FEED  LtfBOR  INTEREST  SHELTER    HARNESS  MISC. 


FIG.  2.— AVERAGE  ANNUAL  COST  OP  KEEPING  ONE  HORSE,  SHOWN  BY  THE  VARIOUS 
ITEMS  OF  EXPENSE,  1913-1918 


1021}  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  181 

cally  an  account  of  all  horses,  including  work  horses  and  colts;  and 
what  would  be  an  item  of  depreciation  is  covered  by  the  charge  made 
for  feed  used  in  growing  the  colts  and  young  horses.  The  average 
depreciation  on  all  work  horses  was  estimated  at  about  10  percent 
per  year. 

Since  feed  is  the  largest  item  of  expense,  and  since  the  other  items 
are  fairly -constant,  the  variations  in  the  average  total  cost  as  shown 
by  Table  2  are  due  almost  entirely  to  changes  in  the  prices  of  feed 
and  the  amounts  used.  The  slightly  lower  cost  in  1916  over  1915  was 
due  to  a  decrease  in  the  amount  of  hay  consumed  and  also  to  a  de- 
crease in  the  price  of  hay.  The  decrease  in  the  cost  of  hay  consumed 
was  considerably  more  than  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  grain  fed, 
even  tho  the  average  price  of  corn  increased  10  cents  per  bushel.  The 
increases  in  the  total  cost  of  keeping  horses  during  1917  and  1918 
were  caused  almost  entirely  by  the  increased  prices  of  feeds.  The 
total  amount  of  feed  consumed  annually  by  all  horses  on  all  farms 
did  not  vary  to  any  great  extent  from  one  year  to  another.  In  com- 
paring different  farms,  however,  considerable  variation  in  the  average 
amounts  of  feed  consumed  per  horse  was  found  during  each  of  the 
six  years. 

MEASUREMENT  or  HORSE-LABOR  EFFICIENCY 

In  studying  the  use  of  horse  labor  with  a  view  to  making  com- 
parisons between  different  farms  and  between  different  years,  some 
standard  measures  are  necessary.  The  following  four  standard  meas- 
ures were  selected  as  offering  the  most  satisfactory  basis  for  such  com- 
parisons: (1)  crop  acres  per  horse;  (2)  hours  per  horse  per  year; 
(3)  Iiouxs^jgrTiorse Tper~day,  and  (4)~cosFper  liorse  per  hour! 

The  efficiency  ofTTorMe  labor  On~~all  the  farms  studied  in  Hancock 
county,  as  measured  by  these  four  standards,  for  each  of  the  five 
years  1913  to  1917,  is  presented  in  Table  3. 

The  average  number  of  crop  acres  imrked  per  horse  shows  some 
variations  during  the  five-year  period  from  1913  to  1917.  The  in- 
crease from  16.72  in  1914  to  22.44  in  1915  was  due  largely  to  the 
fact  that  two  of  the  farms  included  practically  doubled  their  acreage 
without  making  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  number  of  horses  car- 
ried. In  1916,  when  some  additional  horses  were  taken  on  by  these 
two  farms,  the  number  of  crop  acres  worked  per  horse  decreased  to 
19.87.  The  increase  made  by  all  the  farms  in  the  number  of  crop  acres 
worked  per  horse  in  1917  was  due  to  several  factors.  The  increased 
price  of  feed  and  the  better  appreciation  by  the  cooperating  farmers 
of  the  number  of  horses  required  to  handle  satisfactorily  a  certain 
number  of  crop  acres,  led  to  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  horses  on 
some  farms.  The  increase  in  the  acreage  farmed  by  two  of  the  farms 
included  also  made  possible  a  better  utilization  of  horse  labor,  and 


182 


BULLETIN  No.  231 


[February, 


therefore  a  larger  number  of  crop  acres  per  horse.  For  a  fuller  dis- 
cussion of  the  influence  of  the  size  of  farm  on  the  number  of  crop 
acres  farmed  per  horse,  see  page  189.  On  the  basis  of  simple  farm 
accounts  kept  on  three  hundred  and  sixteen  farms  in  twenty  central 
Illinois  counties,  during  the  years  of  1916,  1917,  and  1918,  the  aver- 
age number  of  crop  acres  worked  per  horse  was  18.56. 

The  number  of  hours  of  work  per  horse  per  year  averaged  928.2 
for  the  five-year  period.  The  average  for  each  year  did  not  vary 
greatly  from  this  figure.  The  somewhat  lower  number  of  hours  worked 
per  horse  during  1914  (818.7)  was  due  largely  to  the  dry  season.  In 
normal  years  it  is  necessary  in  growing  cultivated  crops  to  work  the 
ground  as  soon  as  practicable  after  each  rain  in  order  to  break  the 
crust  and  kill  weeds,  but  in  1914  such  extra  workings  were  unneces- 
sary, as  there  was  practically  no  rain  during  the  growing  season.  Also 
the  smaller  crop  yields  required  much  less  labor  in  harvesting.  In~1915 
the  rainfall  during  the  growing  season  was  considerably  above  the 
normal.  This,  however,  was  not  the  cause  for  the  increase  in  the 
number  of  hours  of  horse  labor  for  that  year.  It  did  make  necessary 
more  than  the  average  amount  of  work  for  some  of  the  operations, 
such  as  preparing  the  ground  for  the  crops  and  cutting  small  grain, 
but  on  the  other  hand  it  prevented  some  of  the  work  from  being 
done.  Some  crops  were  not  put  in,  others  were  not  harvested,  and 
most  of  the  corn  was  given  much  less  than  the  usual  amount  of  cul- 
tivation. The  reason  for  the  increase  was  that  two  of  the  farms 


TABLE  3. — EFFICIENCY  OF  HORSE  LABOR  AS  MEASURED  BY  THE  FOUR 
STANDARDS,  1913-1917 


Year 

Average 
crop  acres 
per  horse1 

Average  hours 
per  horse 
per  year2 

Average  hours 
per  horse 
per  day* 

Average 
cost  per 
hour* 

1913  

17.57 

943.5 

3  02 

$    0971 

1914  

16  72 

818  7 

2  62 

1254 

1915  

22  44 

1046  7 

3  35 

1034 

1916  

19.87 

923.1 

2  95 

1027 

1917  

22.48 

926.0 

2.96 

.1481 

Average  

19.95 

928.2 

2.98 

1The  average  number  of  crop  acres  per  horse  represents  the  number  of  acres 
in  cultivated  crops  for  each  work  horse  kept.  While  different  crops  require 
varying  amounts  of  horse  labor,  this  measure  is  considered  a  fair  basis  for  com- 
parison between  different  farms  carrying  on  the  fame  general  type  of  farming. 

2The  average  number  of  hours  of  horse  labor  per  horse  per  year  is  deter- 
mined by  dividing  the  total  number  of  hours  worked  by  all  horses  during  the 
year  by  the  number  of  work  horses  carried.  This  includes  the  Sunday  labor 
performed,  such  as  caring  for  live  stock  and  other  necessary  work. 

"The  average  number  of  hours  worked  per  horse  per  day  is  determined  by 
dividing  the  average  number  of  hours  worked  per  horse  per  year  by  312. 

'The  cost  per  hour  of  horse  labor  is  determined  by  dividing  the  total  net  cost 
of  keeping  all  work  horses  carried  for  a  year  by  the  total  hours  of  work  done 
by  the  horses  during  that  year. 


19X1} 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


183 


studied  increased  their  area  by  160  acres  each,  without  a  correspond- 
ing increase  in  the  number  of  work  horses.  During  1916  and  1917 
the  number  of  work  horses  on  these  two  farms  was  increased  some- 
what and  the  hours  per  horse  returned  to  almost  normal. 

The  hours  of  horse  labor  per  horse  per  day  averaged  approximately 
three  (2.98),  indicating  that  the  horses  on  these  farms  did  not  ap- 
proach their  maximum  utilization. 

The  average  cost  of  horse  labor  per  hour  for  the  years  1913  to 
1916  on  the  farms  studied  remained  fairly  constant,  the  minimum  for 
this  period  being  $  .0971  in  1913  and  the  maximum  $  .1254  in  1914. 
In  1917  the  average  cost  per  hour  increased  to  $  .1481.  This  increase 
was  due  largely  to  the  rise  in  the  price  of  feeds. 


VARIATIONS  IN  HORSE-LABOR  EFFICIENCY 

The  variations  in  the  number  of  crop  acres  and  the  number  of 
hours  of  labor  secured  per  horse,  as  well  as  the  wide  variations  in  the 
cost  of  horse  labor  per  hour  on  the  different  farms  studied,  which 
are  shown  in  Table  4,  emphasize  the  importance  of  making  a  most 
careful  study  of  these  items.  The  farms  included  in  this  group  were 
all  carrying  on  the  same  general  type  of  farming  on  the  same  or 
similar  soil  types.  They  were  all  located  within  a  few  miles  of  each 
other  and  therefore  had  the  same  seasonal  conditions  as  to  rainfall 
and  other  factors  affecting  the  use  of  horse  labor. 

TABLE  4. — EXTREME  VARIATIONS  IN  HORSE-LABOR  EFFICIENCY  ON  THE  FARMS 
STUDIED   IN  HANCOCK  COUNTY,   1913-1917 


Year 

Crop   acres 
per  horse 

Hours  per 
horse  per 
year 

Hours  per 
horse  per 
day 

Cost  per 
hour 

Min. 

Max. 

Min. 

Max. 

Min. 

Max. 

Min. 

Max. 

1913.  .  

12.92 
10.74 
16.38 
14.34 

17.78 

25.13 
21.73 
30.94 
29.03 
29.40 

543 
436 
781 
657 
573 

1582 
1353 
1400 
1210 
1321 

1.74 
1.42 
2.50 
2.10 
1.83 

5.09 
4.33 
4.49 
3.88 
3.98 

$  .0524 
.0576 
.0544 
.0733 
.1128 

$  .1520 
.2103 
.1685 
.1371 
.2579 

1914   .... 

1915  

1916   

1917.. 

>  -f 
& 


'A 


The  variations  shown  in  Table  4  are  of  two  kinds:  variations 
within  the  same  farm  or  group  of  farms  from  one  year  to  another ; 
and  the  variations  between  different  farms  during  the  same  year. 

The  variations  in  the  utilization  of  horse  labor  which  occurred  from 
one  year  to  another  were  due  largely  to  seasonal  variations,  principally 
differences  in  rainfall  during  the  cropping  season.  Some  of  these 
variations,  however,  were  due  to  changes  in  farm  organization  and 
operation  which  were  being  put  into  effect  by  different  farms.  The 
variations  in  the  cost  per  hour  of  horse  labor  from  one  year  to  another 
were  due  to  the  influence  of  either  one  or  both  of  two  factors:  first, 


184  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

to  a  general  increase  in  the  cost  of  feed  and  other  items  as  shown 
in  Fig.  2 ;  and  second,  to  changes  in  the  organization  and  operation 
of  the  individual  farm.  For  example,  the  material  increase  in  mini- 
mum cost  per  hour  which  occurred  during  both  1916  and  1917,  as 
shown  in  Table  4,  was  almost  entirely  due  to  the  constantly  advanc- 
ing price  of  feed  (the  minimum  cost  per  hour  was  secured  by  the 
same  farm  during  each  of  the  five  years)  ;  while  it  was  owing  mainly 
to  a  reduction  in  the  number  of  horses  carried  that  the  maximum 
cost  per  hour  (secured  by  an  individual  farm  in  1913,  1915,  1916, 
and  1917)  was  materially  reduced  during  1916  as  compared  with 
1913  and  1915.  Owing  largely  to  the  increase  in  the  cost  of  feed,  the 
rate  per  hour  for  this  farm  was  again  greatly  increased  in  1917. 
Other  management  factors  also  entered  into  this  increase  in  cost  from 
1916  to  1917. 

The  variations  which  occurred  between  different  farms  during  the 
same  years  were  due  largely  to  differences  in  the  organization  and 
operation.  Thus,  the  farm  which  had  the  lowest  cost  per  hour  in  1913 
consistently  remained  the  lowest  in  this  item  thruout  the  entire  five- 
year  period.  During  each  of  these  years  it  produced  its  horse  labor 
at  a  cost  ranging  from  approximately  one-half  to  one-third  the  cost 
on  the  farm  having  the  highest  rate  for  the  same  year. 

The  farms  tended  somewhat  consistently  to  rank  in  the  same  order 
when  compared  with  reference  to  their  efficiency  in  any  one  of  the 
four  factors  during  a  given  year.  For  example,  the  farm  working  the 
largest  number  of  crop  acres  per  horse  was,  in  general,  the  farm  se- 
curing the  largest  number  of  hours  of  horse  labor  per  year  and  per 
day,  and  also  the  lowest  cost  of  horse  labor  per  hour.  Conversely,  the 
farm  working  the  lowest  number  of  crop  acres  per  horse  was,  in  gen- 
eral, the  farm  securing  the  lowest  number  of  hours  of  horse  labor  per 
year  and  per  day,  and  also  the  highest  cost  of  horse  labor  per  hour. 

It  is  of  course  appreciated  that  the  cost-accounting  studies  upon 
which  this  work  is  based  do  not  afford  an  exact  measure  of  the  value 
of  the  horse  hour  on  one  farm  as  compared  with  that  on  another. 
However,  the  figures  here  reported  are  considered  to  be  fairly  com- 
parable. As  has  already  been  pointed  out,  the  farms  included  were 
all  carrying  on  the  same. general  type  of  farming  and  the  horses  used 
were,  in  general,  of  the  same  size  and  type.  There  is  no  evidence  that 
the  horse  hour  costing  $  .152  represented  any  more  or  better  work 
done  than  that  costing  $  .0524.  There  were  inevitably  some  varia- 
tions in  the  quality  of  the  horse  hour  on  the  various  farms  studied, 
but  such  variations  were  unimportant  as  compared  with  the  differ- 
ences in  cost  per  hour  of  horse  labor.  For  the  purpose  of  this 
analysis  we  may  therefore  assume  that  the  cost  per  hour  affords  a 
satisfactory  standard  of  measurement  in  comparing  the  efficiency  of 
horse  labor  on  the  different  farms. 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


185 


INFLUENCE  OF  COST  PER  HOUR  ON  THE  €OST  PER  ACRE 

When  these  differences  in  the  cost  of  horse  labor  are  expressed  in 
terms  of  cost  per  acre,  the  importance  of  horse  labor  as  an  item  of 
cost  in  producing  farm  crops  may  be  more  fully  appreciated. 

In  Table  4  it  will  be  noted  that  the  cost  per  hour  varies  in  gen- 
eral more  widely  than  any  of  the  other  standard  measures  of  horse 
labor.  As  previously  stated,  the  cost  of  horse  labor  per  hour  depends 
upon  the  combined  influence  of  two  factors,  i.e.,  the  total  cost  of 
keeping  a  horse  for  a  year,  or  any  other  given  period,  and  the  number 
of  hours  of  work  done  during  this  period.  Since  of  the  farms 
studied  those  having  the  lowest  total  costs  for  keeping  horses  also 
secured  the  largest  number  of  hours  of  work  per  year,  and  those 
securing  the  lowest  number  of  hours  of  work  per  year  were  nearly 
always  among  the  group  having  the  highest  total  cost  of  keeping  their 
horses,  the  variations  in  the  cost  per  hour  of  horse  labor  were  extreme. 

TABLE  5. — EXTREME  VARIATIONS  IN  ACRE  COST  cr  HORSE  LABOR  WHICH  WOULD 
RESULT  FROM  THE  MINIMUM  AND  MAXIMUM  HOUR  COSTS  OF  HORSE  LABOR 


Hours  horse 

Cost  at 

Cost  at 

Difference 

Difference 

Crop 

labor  required 

maximum 
rate  of 

minimum 
rate  of 

in  cost 

per  thirty 

per  acre 

$  .152 

$  .0524 

per  acre 

acres 

Corn  

46 

$6  99 

$2  41 

$458 

$137  40 

Corn  

46 

6.99 

2  41 

458 

137  40 

Oats  

18 

2.74 

.94' 

1.80 

54.00 

Wheat  

38 

5.78 

1  99 

3  79 

113  70 

Clover.  . 

12 

1.82 

.63 

1.19 

35.7'0 

Total  difference  in  cost  for  5  years'  rotation  of  150  acres $478.20 

Total  difference  in  cost  per  acre    $3.19 


Table  5  shows  the  differences  there  would  be  in  the  cost  of  horse 
labor  per  acre  when  figured  on  the  minimum  and  on  the  maximum 
costs  per  hour  obtained  in  growing  the  standard  corn-belt  crops  (corn, 
oats,  wheat,  and  clover)  during  1913.  Similar  variations  in  cost  oc- 
curred during  each  of  the  other  years.  This  table  also  shows  the  total 
differences  there  would  be  in  the  cost  of  horse  labor  per  acre  in  grow- 
ing 150  acres  of  these  crops  in  the  following  rotation :  corn,  60  acres ; 
oats,  30  acres ;  wheat,  30  acres ;  and  clover,  30  acres ;  i.e.,  a  rotation 
of  corn,  corn,  oats,  wheat,  and  clover. 

Since  corn  requires  on  the  average  46  hours  of  horse  labor  per 
acre,  the  difference  in  the  cost  of  producing  an  acre  of  corn,  due 
to  this  item  alone,  would  be  $4.58.  For  oats,  which  require  18 
hours  of  horse  labor,  the  difference  in  cost  would  be  $1.80.  For  fall 
wheat,  which  requires  38  hours,  the  difference  would  be  $3.79.  For 
clover,  which  requires  12  hours,  the  difference  would  be  $1.19.  As 
shown  in  the  right-hand  column  in  Table  5,  the  difference  between 


186  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

the  minimum  and  maximum  costs  of  horse  labor  in  growing  a  rota- 
tion of  corn,  60  acres ;  oats,  30  acres ;  wheat,  30  acres ;  and  clover,  30 
acres,  would  be  $478.20  for  the  entire  rotation  of  150  acres,  or  $3.19 

,  per  acre,  as  an  average  for  the  various  crops. 

Assuming  a  difference  of  $3  per  acre  between  the  minimum  and 
maximum  costs  of  producing  the  crops  grown  in  a  farm  rotation  and 
translating  this  difference  into  terms  of  interest  earned,  we  should 
have  11/2  percent  interest  on  $200  land,  or  1  percent  interest  on  $300 
land.  Translating  this  difference  of  $3  per  acre  into  terms  of  cap- 
italized income,  it  will  be  seen  that  with  interest  at  6  percent  it  rep- 
resents a  difference  of  $50  per  acre  in  the  value  of  the  land,  or  with 
interest  at  5  percent,  a  difference  of  $60  per  acre.  That  is,  on  the 
basis  of  the  differences  in  the  cost  of  horse  labor  actually  found,  some 
farmers  can  pay  l1/^  percent  more  interest  on  $200  land,  or  1  percent 
more  interest  on  $300  land,  than  can  others.  Figuring  interest  at  6 
percent,  one  farmer  can  pay  $50  more  per  acre  for  a  given  piece  of 

•'  land,  or  with  interest  at  5  percent  he  can  pay  $60  more  per  acre, 
taking  into  consideration  the  differences  in  the  cost  of  horse  labor 
alone.  From  these  figures  it  is  evident,  therefore,  that  the  variations 
which  actually  occur  in  the  cost  of  horse  labor  are  responsible  for 
considerable  variation  in  the  cost  of  producing  farm  crops,  and  must, 
therefore,  materially  affect  the  total  profits  of  the  farm  business. 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  187 

PART  III 


The  differences  in  the  cost  of  horse  labor  which  occurred  during 
each  of  the  five  years  1913  to  1917,  as  shown  in  Table  4,  emphasize 
the  importance  of  studying  this  item  of  expense  with  a  view  to  re- 
ducing it  to  the  lowest  possible  point  consistent  with  good  practice 
and  the  largest  return  for  the  farm  business  as  a  whole. 

In  attempting  to  reduce  the  cost  per  unit  of  horse  labor,  two 
factors  are  to  be  considered  as  of  primary  importance;  namely,  the 
reduction  of  the  net  cost  of  carrying  the  horses,  and  the  securing  of 
the  largest  amount  of  productive  work  per  year,  or  other  given  period, 
per  horse.  The  reduction  of  the  net  cost  of  carrying  the  horses  can 
be  effected  mainly  thru  economical  feeding,  care,  and  general  manage- 
ment, thru  raising  good  colts  for  sale  or  to  replace  other  horses,  and 
thru  reducing  depreciation  by  disposing  of  mature  horses  before  they 
begin  to  depreciate  in  selling  value.  In  attempting  to  secure  the 
largest  amount  of  productive  work  per  horse  per  year,  several  factors 
are  of  importance.  Among  the  foremost  are  the  scientific  organiza- 
tion and  operation  of  the  farm  with  a  view  to  distributing  the  horse 
labor  as  evenly  as  possible  thruout  the  year,  the  more  general  pro- 
duction and  use  of  the  most  efficient  size  and  type  of  horse,  and  the 
care  and  handling  of  farm  horses  in  such  a  way  as  to  keep  them  in 
the  best  possible  working  condition  thruout  the  year. 

REDUCING  THE  NET  CARRYING  COST 

Thru  Economical  Feeding,  Care,  and  General  Management. — Since 
feed  makes  up  72  percent  of  the  total  cost  of  keeping  horses,  as  shown 
in  Table  1  and  Fig.  1,  it  presents  the  largest  opportunity  for  reducing 
the  cost  of  carrying  farm  work  horses.  Substantial  economies  in  this 
item  were  effected  by  some  of  the  farms  included  in  these  studies. 

TABLE  6. — VARIATIONS  IN  THE  AVERAGE  COST  OF  FEED  CONSUMED 
PER  HORSE  ON  DIFFERENT  FARMS,  1913-1918 


Year 

Minimum  cost 
per  horse 

Maximum  cost 
per  horse 

1913  

$44  42 

$79  78 

1914  

44  62 

69  67 

1915  

5253 

83  87 

1916  

50  65 

8040 

1917  

5697 

13158 

1918  

104.75 

164.10 

The  figures  presented  in  Table  6  show  that  it  cost  some  farmers 
from  one  and  one-half  to  more  than  two  times  as  much  to  feed  their 
horses  as  it  did  others  during  the  same  year.  Some  of  these  differ- 


188  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

ences  were  due  to  differences  in  the  size  and  age  of  the  horses,  the 
larger  horses  naturally  requiring  more  feed  than  the  smaller  ones, 
and  the  young,  growing  horses  requiring  more  than  the  mature  ones. 
A  part  of  the  differences  in  feed  required  were  also  due  to  differences 
in  the  amount  of  work  done  by  the  horses.  When  all  these  factors  are 
taken  into  consideration,  however,  there  still  remain  differences  due 
to  the  more  economical  method  of  feeding  used  on  some  farms  as  com- 
pared with  that  on  others.  This  factor  of  economical  feeding  repre- 
sents by  far  the  most  important  factor  in  reducing  the  cost  of  carrying 
horses  under  general  farming  conditions. 

Labor  made  up  a  relatively  small  proportion  of  the  total  cost  of 
keeping  horses  on  the  farms  studied.  The  amount  of  time  spent  in 
caring  for  horses  depends  not  only  upon  the  amount  of  attention 
given  the  animals,  such  as  grooming,  harnessing,  and  general  care, 
but  also  upon  the  location  and  arrangement  of  barns,  feed  storage, 
water  supply,  and  pastures.  Horses  kept  in  good  pastures  conveni- 
ently located  of  course  require  less  feed  and  care  than  those  kept  in 
the  stable  most  of  the  time.  The  best  practical  experience  has  shown 
that  any  economies  in  the  time  spent  in  caring  for  farm  horses  should 
be  effected  thru  providing  more  convenient  arrangements  for  feeding 
and  watering  rather  than  thru  putting  less  time  on  grooming  and 
general  inspection  and  care.  In  fact,  the  majority  of  farmers  might 
profitably  spend  a  little  more  time  in  looking  after  the  health  and 
general  condition  of  their  work  stock. 

The  shelter  cost  in  keeping  work  horses  is  relatively  unimportant. 
It  cannot  be  decreased  to  any  great  extent  except  by  providing  the 
most  inexpensive  barns  consistent  with  satisfactory  housing,  conveni- 
ence in  operation,  and  minimum  net  cost  over  a  period  of  years. 

By  Raising  Good  Colts. — While  the  raising  of  colts  was  at  most 
a  secondary  source  of  income  on  the  farms  studied,  it  was  to  some 
extent  a  factor  in  reducing  the  total  cost  of  carrying  the  work  stock. 
On  none  of  the  farms  were  brood  mares  kept  primarily  for  raising 
colts.  In  fact,  all  mares  bred  did  full-time  service  in  the  harness 
during  the  busy  seasons. 

Even  tho  the  direct  profits  to  be  made  in  raising  colts  may  not 
be  large,  the  most  successful  corn-belt  farmers  find  it  profitable  to 
produce  at  least  enough  colts  to  replace  the  older  horses  worn  out  or 
sold  to  avoid  depreciation.  Corn-belt  farmers  can  produce  colts  at 
the  lowest  possible  cost,  since  the  colts  can  be  grown  to  a  considerable 
extent  on  legume  roughage  and  can  be  raised  very  largely  on  the  idle 
time  of  the  mares  and  the  least  productive  time  of  the  men.  In  grow- 
ing his  own  supply  of  horses,  the  farmer  makes  whatever  profit  there 
is  in  production,  saves  the  cost  of  transfer  from  the  grower  to 
the  user,  and  eliminates  to  a  large  extent  the  risks  from  disease  in 
making  such  transfers.  It  is  evident  that  if  the  raising  of  colts  is 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


189 


to  be  made  most  profitable,  they  must  be  of  the  size  and  quality  which 
command  the  best  market  price  when  sold. 

By  Reducing  Depreciation  Charges. — The  total  cost  of  carrying 
farm  work  horses  may  also  be  reduced  to  some  extent  by  avoiding 
the  depreciation  charge  in  so  far  as  possible.  Ordinarily  farm  horses 
are  started  to  work  at  three  years  of  age ;  they  are  in  their  prime  at 
five  to  six  years,  and  do  not  begin  to  depreciate  in  selling  value  until 
they  are  eight  or  nine  years  of  age.  This  gives  the  farmer  an  op- 
portunity to  work  his  horses  four  or  five  years  and  still  sell  them  for 
their  maximum  market  value,  provided  they  have  not  been  depreciated 
thru  blemishes  or  unsoundness. 

Since  approximately  90  percent  of  all  work  horses  are  on  farms, 
the  major  portion  of  the  depreciation  must  be  absorbed  by  the  farms. 
On  the  basis  of  the  best  information  available,  city  horses  wear  out 
in  from  four  to  five  years  on  the  average,  while  farm  horses  last  from 
eight  to  ten  years.  It  is  evident,  therefore,  that  approximately  20 
percent  of  the  horse  consumption  of  the  country  takes  place  in  cities. 
Inasmuch  as  other  factors  than  age  contribute  most  to  the  wearing 
out  of  the  horse  on  the  city  street,  it  will  be  advisable  for  the  farmer 
to  sell  off  his  surplus  horses  which  the  city  requires  before  they  be- 
gin to  depreciate  on  account  of  age.  In  this  way  from  15  to  20 
percent  of  the  depreciation  charge  for  all  farm  horses  may  be  trans- 
ferred to  the  city.  In  the  corn-belt  section,  which  produces  a  large 
proportion  of  the  surplus  horses  of  the  country,  it  is  possible  to 
transfer  from  25  to  50  percent  of  this  depreciation  to  the  city  or 
to  the  farming  sections  which  buy  horses  rather  than  raise  them. 

SECURING  A  LARGE  AMOUNT  OF  WORK  PER  HORSE 

Thru  Farms  of  Adequate  Size. — One  of  the  important  considera- 
tions in  securing  the  most  effective  utilization  of  horse  labor  is  the 
size  of  farm.  The  figures  shown  in  Table  7,  presenting  data  from 

TABLE  7. — SHOWING  THE  INFLUENCE  OF  THE  SIZE  OF  FARM  ON  THE 
NUMBER  OF  CROP  ACRES  WORKED  PER  HORSE,  1916-1918 


Size  of  farm 

Number  of 
•    farms 

Aver,   size 
of  farm 

Aver,  number 
crop  acres 

Crop  acres 
per  horse 

Tinder  160  acres  

81 

111.2 

87.4 

14.69 

160-199    acres  

107 

167.0 

137.6 

17.59 

200-239    acres  

47 

209.7 

172  1 

18.86 

Over  240  acres  

81 

299.6 

240.0 

21.38 

Average  crop  acres  per  horse  on  316  farms 18.56 


316  farms  located  in  some  twenty  counties  in  central  Illinois,  show 
the  influence  of  the  size  of  farm  on  the  number  of  crop  acres  worked 
per  horse.  On  the  basis  of  these  figures,  the  number  of  crop  acres 


190  - 


BULLETIN  No.  231 


[February, 


JUN \JUL  \flUG\SEP  \OCT\A/OV \DEC 


FIG.  3. — DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  KEQUIRED  TO  PRODUCE  ONE  ACRE 
CF  CORN  WHEN  No  PLOWING  OR  MANURE  HAULING  WAS  DONE  IN  THE  FALL.  TOTAL 
HORSE  HOURS,  40.9 


CT)      


CORN 

PSSSl  Previous  years  later 


FIG.  4. — DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  KEQUIRED  TO  PRODUCE  ONE  ACRE 
OF  CORN  WHEN  PLOWING  AND  MANURE  HAULING  WERE  DONE  IN  THE  FALL.  TOTAL 
HORSE  HOURS,  46.1 


W/C/77 

££SI  Pnev/ooj  years  labor 
including  man  i/r*  hauling 


JflN \ FEB  \MfiR\flPR\MflV\JUN 


FIG.   5. — DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  REQUIRED  TO  PRODUCE  ONE  ACRE 
OF  WINTER  WHEAT  (INCLUDING  MANURE  HAULING).     TOTAL  HORSE  HOURS,  38.1 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  191 

which  can  be  worked  per  horse  apparently  continues  to  increase  some- 
what constantly  for  farms  increasing  in  size  up  to  approximately  300 
acres,  i.e.,  the  farms  with  approximately  240  acres  of  crops.  It  is 
doubtful  whether  farms  above  this  size  would  have  very  much  ad- 
vantage in  securing  a  large  number  of  crop  acres  per  horse.  A  farm 
of  300  acres  is  ordinarily  large  enough  not  only  to  make  good  use  of 
the  most  advantageous  size  of  machinery  but  also  to  make  the  best 
use  of  the  largest  number  of  horses  that  can  be  handled  by  two  or 
three  men  in  performing  the  different  farm  operations  which  repre- 
sent the  peak  load  of  horse  labor.  In  so  far  as  the  crop  yields  show, 
the  larger  number  of  crop  acres  worked  per  horse  upon  the  larger 
farms  was  not  secured  at  the  expense  of  good  farming. 

Thru  Crop  Rotations  Securing  an  Even  Distribution  of  Labor. — 
One  of  the  fundamental  factors  in  making  possible  an  efficient  use  of 
horse  labor  is  a  good  rotation  in  which  the  crops  selected  will  permit 
the  most  even  possible  distribution  of  horse  labor  thruout  the  growing 
season.  In  order  to  construct  such  rotations  which  will  at  the  same 
time  meet  the  requirements  of  a  good  rotation  from  the  standpoint 
of  soil  maintenance^  insect  and  disease  control,  and  the  maximum  re- 
turns for  the  crops  included,  a  detailed  study  should  be  made  of  the 
horse-labor  requirement  of  various  crops  during  the  different  months 
of  the  year. 

In  Figs.  3  and  4  is  shown  the  distribution  of  horse  labor  required 
by  months  in  producing  one  acre  of  corn.  These  figures  represent  the 
average  of  all  farms  included  in  the  Hancock-county  studies  during 
the  five-year  period  1913  to  1917.  Fig.  3  includes  no  fall  work  for 
hauling  manure  or  fall  plowing.  Fig.  4,  which  includes  the  plowing 
which  was  done  in  the  fall  and  also  the  hauling  of  manure,  indicates 
the  improvement  in  the  distribution  of  horse  labor  which  can  be 
effected  thru  these  practices.  Fig.  5,  which  shows  the  distribution 
of  horse  labor  in  producing  an  acre  of  winter  wheat,  shows  the  possi- 
bilities of  this  crop  in  fitting  in  and  making  possible  an  even  dis- 
tribution of  horse  labor  when  grown  in  connection  with  corn.  Figs. 
6,  7,  and  8  show  the  distribution  by  months  of  the  horse  labor  re- 
quired in  growing  oats,  clover,  and  mixed  hay,  respectively. 

Fig.  9  shows  the  distribution,  by  months,  of  the  horse  labor  re- 
quired in  growing  a  rotation  of  80  acres  of  corn,  40  acres  of  winter 
wheat,  40  acres  of  oats,  40  acres  of  clover,  one-half  of  which  is  har- 
vested for  hay  and  one-half  used  for  pasture.  Fig.  10  shows  the 
distribution  of  the  horse  labor  required  in  growing  the  somewhat 
typical  corn-belt  rotation  of  120  acres  of  corn,  50  acres  of  oats,  10 
acres  of  mixed  hay,  and  20  acres  of  pasture.  Fig.  11  shows  the  dis- 
tribution of  horse  labor  required  in  growing  the  same  rotation  as 
represented  in  Fig.  9,  but  indicates  the  possibilities  for  still  further 
improvement  in  the  distribution  of  horse  labor  made  possible  by  doing 


192 


BULLETIN  No.  231 


[February, 


FIG.  6. — DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  EEQUIRED  TO  PRODUCE  ONE  ACRE 
OF  OATS.    TOTAL  HORSE  HOURS,  18.3 


5- 


CLOVER 


JftN  \rCB  \M*R  \flPR  \M/tV 


flUG  \S£P  \OCTVWV  U?£"C 


FIG.  7. — DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  EEQUIRED  TO  PRODUCE  ONE  ACRE  OF 
CLOVER,  FIRST  CROP.    TOTAL  HORSE  HOURS,  12 


MflY\  JUN\JUL  \flUG  \ SEP  \OCT WOV\D£C 


FIG.  8. — DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  EEQUIRED  TO  PRODUCE  ONE  ACRE 
OF  MIXED  HAY.    TOTAL  HORSE  HOURS,  7.8 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


193 


IJOO 


CORN 
OflTS 

WINTER  WHC/17 
CLOVER  HflY 


RO/f 

40  a 

40  ti 
iOfl 


JflN\FE&  \MflR\flPR\MflY\JUNVJUL  \flUG\SEP\OCT\NO 


FIG.    9. — EVEN   DISTRIBUTION   OF   HORSE   LABOR   KESULTING   FROM    A    GOOD 
CORN-BELT  EOTATION.    No  PLOWING  OR  MANURE  HAULING  Is  DONE  IN  THE  FALL 


1100 


co/wv  /zo  a 

OATS  so  a 

MIXED  nay    /on 
PASTURE      aoa 


FIG.   10. — UNEVEN  DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  KESULTING  FROM  A 
COMMON  CORN-BELT  EOTATION 


1100 


CORN  (fait  work) 
OflTS 

WINTER  WHEflT 
CLOVER  HOY 


&04 


40  A 
ZO/l 


APR  \MflY\JUN\JUL\tfUG\  SEP\OC 


FIG.  11. — UNUSUALLY  EVEN  DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  EESULTING  FROM 
THE  SAME  EOTATION  AS  THAT  EEPRESENTED  IN  FIG.  9,  BUT  IN  WHICH  FALL  WORK 
Is  DONE  IN  PREPARATION  FOR  CORN 


194  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

as  much  fall  plowing  in  preparation  for  corn  as  was  done  on  some 
of  the  farms  of  Hancock  county  during  the  years  1913-1917  inclusive.1 

Inasmuch  as  the  rotation  represented  by  Fig.  10  is  quite  typical 
as  to  the  proportion  of  various  crops  grown  in  a  large  part  of  the  most 
important  corn-producing  areas  in  Illinois,  it  is  apparent  that  the 
distribution  of  horse  labor  must  be  in  general  quite  unsatisfactory 
from  the  standpoint  of  providing  the  most  productive  employment  for 
the  farm  horses  during  the  cropping  season.  As  compared  with  the 
rotation  represented  by  Figs.  9  and  11,  it  is  also  less  satisfactory  from 
the  standpoint  of  maintaining  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  since  the  pro- 
portion of  legume  crops  is  too  small.  As  determined  by  the  best  avail- 
able information,  rotations  in  the  corn  belt  should  include  a  legume 
acreage  of  from  one-fifth  to  one-fourth  of  the  total  crop  area.  The  in- 
troduction of  winter  wheat  into  the  rotation,  as  represented  in  Figs. 
9  and  11,  in  addition  to  contributing  very  much  to  the  better  distribu- 
tion of  horse  labor,  also  reduces  somewhat  the  acreage  in  oats.  This 
is  desirable,  since,  in  the  main,  oats  are  relatively  less  profitable  than 
is  winter  wheat  even  in  the  best  corn-growing  areas. 

From  these  figures  it  is  evident  that  in  the  constructing  of  rota- 
tions which  will  maintain  the  nitrogen  content  of  the  soil  and  provide 
the  best  combinations  of  feeds  for  general  live-stock  production,  there 
is  at  the  same  time  an  opportunity  for  selecting  combinations  which 
will  make  possible  an  increased  efficiency  in  the  use  of  horse  labor 
thruout  the  cropping  season. 

Thru  the  Production  of  Live  Stock. — The  production  of  two  or 
more  classes  of  live  stock,  particularly  where  the  winter  feeding  of 
cattle  or  sheep  is  included,  helps  to  provide  some  productive  employ- 
ment for  the  farm  horses  during  the  period  when  they  would  other- 
wise be  idle.  This  winter  labor  helps  not  only  in  reducing  the  unit 
cost  of  horse  labor  by  providing  more  hours  of  productive  work,  but 
also  in  keeping  the  horses  in  better  working  condition  thruout  the 
winter  and  insuring  their  being  more  efficient  when  they  go  into  hard 
work  in  the  spring.  Thus,  every  step  in  the  direction  of  a  more 
permanent  and  a  more  diversified  system  of  farming  is  a  step  in  the 
direction  of  the  more  perfect  utilization  of  the  farm  horse  labor. 

T^hru  a  Good  Physical  Organization  of  the  Farmstead. — In  at- 
tempting to  secure  the  best  use  of  horse  labor,  the  physical  organiza- 

'In  Figs.  3  to  11  inclusive,  the  distribution  of  horse  labor  is  shown  by  months. 
This  naturally  tends  to  smooth  down  somewhat  the  variations  occurring  from 
week  to  week  or  from  day  to  day  within  the  month.  For  the  purposes  of  further 
analysis  many  of  the  horse-labor  distributions  studied  were  platted  by  weeks,  by 
ten-day  periods,  and  by  single  days.  While  the  platting  by  shorter  periods  makes 
the  curve  somewhat  more  irregular,  the  same  general  result  is  obtained  with 
reference  to  the  more  even  distribution  of  the  horse  labor  secured  by  growing  a 
good  rotation,  as  shown  in  Figs.  9  and  11,  as  compared  with  the  poor  rotation 
represented  by  Fig.  10. 


1921]  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  195 

tion  of  the  farm  and  the  farmstead  must  also  be  taken  into  consid- 
eration. The  location  of  the  farmstead  and  the  general  arrangement 
of  the  field  system  must  be  planned  with  a  view  to  reducing  the  dis- 
tance in  hauling  either  to  or  from  the  fields.  The  size  and  shape  of 
fields  also  has  an  important  influence  in  the  most  effective  use  of  horse 
labor.  The  larger  the  field  the  more  economically  can  the  horse  labor 
be  used.  In  actual  practice,  a  good  rule  seems  to  be  to  have  as  many 
fields  as  there  are  years  in  the  rotation  and  to  have  the  fields  as  nearly 
the  same  size  as  possible.  Fields  should  be  rectangular  if  possible, 
since  triangular  and  irregular-shaped  fields  always  mean  the  wasting 
of  some  horse  labor.  In  general,  fields  should  be  about  twice  as  long 
as  they  are  wide  in  order  to  require  as  little  turning  as  possible  at 
the  ends.  This  is  true  even  in  the  corn-belt  section,  where  a  some- 
what larger  proportion  of  the  work  must  be  done  crosswise  of  the 
field  as  compared  with  sections  growing  less  corn.  On  the  other  hand, 
fields  that  are  too  long  and  narrow  do  not  use  fencing  economically. 
A  farmstead  carefully  planned  with  reference  to  the  location  and 
arrangement  of  buildings,  yards,  paddocks,  and  lanes  may  also  save 
some  time  in  the  use  of  horse  labor.  This  factor  is  more  important, 
however,  in  the  saving  of  man  labor  than  in  the  saving  of  horse  labor, 
especially  on  farms  on  which  live-stock  production  is  of  considerable 
importance. 

Thru  a  Classification  and  Scheduling  of  Farm  Operations. — Fur- 
ther improvement  in  the  distribution  of  horse  labor  thruout  the  year 
may  be  brought  about  by  making  a  careful  study  of  all  operations 
requiring  horse  labor  and  classifying  them  with  reference  to  whether 
or  not  they  should  be  done  at  a  particular  time  in  order  to  get  the 
best  results.  From  this  standpoint  farm  operations  may  be  classified 
into  fixed,  semi-fixed,  and  movable  operations. 

The  fixed  operations  are  those  which  must  be  performed  at  a  defi- 
nite period,  usually  within  three  or  four  days  or  a  week  of  a  given 
date,  if  best  results  are  to  be  obtained.  Thus,  the  planting,  cultivat- 
ing, and  harvesting  operations,  which  require  a  large  proportion  of 
all  horse  labor  used,  cannot  usually  be  shifted  more  than  a  few  days 
without  serious  losses  in  crop  returns.  Obviously  the  specific  date 
when  conditions  are  most  favorable  for  performing  a  particular  opera- 
tion may  vary  somewhat  from  year  to  year,  owing  to  seasonal  varia- 
tions. When  the  proper  time  arrives,  however,  the  work  must  be 
pushed  vigorously  and  given  the  right  of  way  over  all  other  work  in 
order  that  it  may  be  finished  during  the  most  favorable  period. 

The  semi- fixed  operations  are  those  which  can  usually  be  shifted 
from  one  to  three  or  four  weeks  without  serious  disadvantage.  Shock 
threshing,  stack  threshing,  and  husking  corn  are  good  illustrations  of 
semi-fixed  work.  Fall  plowing  can  usually  be  shifted  more  or  less 
without  serious  disadvantage.  Even  spring  plowing  and  some  of  the 


196 


BULLETIN  No.  231 


[February, 


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W2l~\  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  197 

other  operations  of  soil  preparation,  especially  for  corn  and  other 
crops  which  should  not  be  planted  before  a  given  date,  may  often  be 
shifted  somewhat  to  fit  in  between  the  more  fixed  operations.  This 
is  especially  true  during  early  springs,  when  the  conditions  for  doing 
field  work  are  favorable.  It  was  largely  such  shifting  that  made  it 
possible,  in  1918,  to  finish  the  spring  work  in  good  time  in  spite  of 
the  serious  shortage  of  man  labor  caused  by  the  withdrawal  of  farm 
hands  to  enter  military  service  or  other  war  work. 

The  movable  operations  are  those  which  can  be  shifted  over  con- 
siderable periods,  usually  from  one  to  three  months  or  even  more, 
without  serious  disadvantage.  Hauling  manure  and  other  fertilizers, 
hauling  tile,  coal,  building  material,  and  miscellaneous  farm  supplies, 
are  illustrations  of  movable  horse-labor  operations. 

In  Table  8  is  shown  the  proportion  of  horse  labor  used  by  various 
farm  enterprizes  or  by  different  departments  of  the  farms  studied  in 
Hancock  county  during  the  period  from  1913  to  1917  inclusive.  It 

TABLE  8. — PERCENTAGE  DISTRIBUTION  OP  HORSE  LABOR  BY  VARIOUS  ENTERPRIZES: 
HANCOCK  COUNTY  FARMS,  1913  TO  1917 


Percentage 

Live-stock  feeding  

4.9 

Household  use                     

6.1 

Equipment   (buildings  and  machinery)  

5.7 

Miscellaneous    

12.3 

Field  work   (crops)    

71.0 

Total                    

100  0 

will  be  noted  that  the  horse  labor  used  in  field  work,  i.e.,  in  growing 
crops  and  in  hauling  manure  and  other  fertilizers,  made  up  71  per- 
cent of  the  total  horse  labor  used  on  the  farms  studied.  Because  of  the 
fact  that  field  work  makes  up  such  a  large  proportion  of  all  farm 
horse  labor,  it  is  apparent  that  special  attention  should  be  given  the 
problem  of  using  horse  labor  to  the  best  advantage  at  this  point.  Since 
a  relatively  large  proportion  of  all  work  in  growing  crops  is  fixed,  it 
is  doubly  important  that  all  field  work  which  is  more  or  less  movable 
should  be  planned  so  as  not  to  conflict  with  the  fixed  work.  This 
applies  especially  to  fall  plowing,  early  spring  plowing,  hauling  ma- 
nure, and  similar  field  operations.  The  importance  of  planning  rota- 
tions which  will  distribute  horse  labor  as  evenly  as  possible  thruout 
the  cropping  season  has  already  been  pointed  out. 

While  nearly  all  these  farms  carried  on  the  winter  feeding  of  live 
stock,  the  horse  labor  required  by  the  live-stock  enterprize  made  up 
only  4.9  percent  of  the  total  horse  labor  used.  Practically  all  this  labor 
was  used  during  the  winter  months  and  therefore  did  not  interfere  with 
the  work  of  crop  production  during  the  growing  season.  This  labor 
was  utilized  mainly  in  hauling  shock  fodder,  hay,  straw,  and  other 


198  BULLETIN  No.'  231  [February, 


FIG.  13. — THE  Two-Eow  CORN  PLOW  DRAWN  BY  THREE  HORSES 
This  plow  saves  man-labor  at  the  period  when  most  man-labor  is  needed. 

feed  materials.1  It  provided  some  productive  employment  for  the 
horses  when  they  would  otherwise  have  been  idle,  and  served  to  help 
keep  them  in  better  condition  to  go  into  spring  work  later  on. 

The  use  of  horse  labor  by  the  household,  making  up  6.1  percent 
of  the  total,  was  for  personal  service  to  the  farmer  and  the  members 
of  his  family.  This  consisted  in  going  to  town  for  pleasure  or  per- 
sonal business,  in  going  to  school,  to  church,  and  doing  miscellaneous 
driving  of  a  personal  character.  With  the  more  general  introduction 
of  the  automobile,  the  amount  of  horse  labor  used  in  personal  driving" 
is  gradually  decreasing.  This  decrease  will  no  doubt  be  still  more 
marked  as  country  roads  are  improved  and  automobiles  can  be  used 
more  nearly  thruout  the  year. 

The  horse  labor  charged  against  equipment,  i.e.,  buildings  and 
machinery,  made  up  5.7  percent  of  the  total.  This  was  used  mainly 
in  hauling  building  materials  required  in  making  ordinary  repairs 
and  in  part  for  the  construction  of  new  buildings  and  permanent 
improvements,  tho  this  latter  item  was  relatively  small.  The  horse 
labor  used  in  going  to  town  for  repairs  for  machinery  also  made  up 
a  somewhat  important  item. 

The  use  of  horse  labor  for  miscellaneous  purposes  made  up  12.3 
percent  of  the  total  amount.  This  consisted  mainly  of  such  items  as 
dragging  roads,  cutting  weeds,  baling  hay,  cutting  silage,  and  doing 

aThe  horse  labor  used  in  hauling  manure,  •which  would  ordinarily  be  thought 
of  as  live-stock  work,  is  charged  in  these  studies  against  the  field  to  which  such 
manure  is  applied,  since  the  crops  grown  on  such  fields  secure  the  benefit  of  the 
application.  Thus,  the  live-stock  enterprizes  are  responsible  for  a  greater  per- 
centage of  the  productive  horse  labor  performed  during  the  slack  seasons  than 
is  indicated  by  the  percentage  shown  in  Table  8. 


1921]  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  199 

farm  hauling  and  driving  of  a  general  nature  which  could  not  be 
charged  to  any  special  enterprize ;  i.e.,  they  were  items  of  general  farm 
expense.  It  also  included  all  "exchange"  horse  labor  performed  by 
the  farmer  on  the  farms  of  his  neighbors  as  well  as  the  horse  labor 
used  in  marketing  grain,  seeds,  and  minor  farm  products.  This  latter 
item  is  of  minor  importance,  however,  since  practically  all  the  crops 
grown  on  the  farms  included  in  these  studies  are  marketed  thru  beef 
cattle  and  hogs. 

This  classification  of  horse-labor  operations  with  reference  to  the 
time  when  they  must  be  performed  can  at  best  be  only  an  approxi- 
mate one.  What  would  be  at  one  time  and  under  certain  conditions 
classed  a  movable  operation,  might  be  at  another  time  and  under  dif- 
ferent conditions  classed  as  semi-fixed  or  even  fixed.  In  general,  how- 
ever, a  systematic  effort  to  classify  the  various  farm  operations  in  this 
way  should  be  helpful  in  planning  the  work  so  that  semi-fixed  and 
movable  work  will  conflict  as  little  as  possible  with  the  fixed  opera- 
tions. The  more  skilful  the  farm  operator  is  in  scheduling  the  work  so 
as  to  get  the  movable  work  done  during  the  slack  periods,  and  the 
more  completely  he  can  make  his  plans  so  as  to  be  fully  prepared  to 
get  maximum  efficiency  at  the  peak-load,  or  rush,  periods,  the  more 
nearly  will  he  come  to  getting  his  fixed  operations  finished  within 
the  time  required  for  best  results. 

In  terms  of  practical  results  this  means  that  efficient  management 
helps  to  cut  down  the  extreme  peak  load  of  horse  labor  which  occurs 
in  Illinois  at  the  time  of  soil  preparation  and  spring  planting,  since 
it  makes  possible  a  more  even  distribution  of  horse  labor  thruout  the 
cropping  season.  This  is  only  another  way  of  saying  that  each  horse 
can  do  more  work,  or  that  a  given  amount  of  work  can  be  done  equally 
well  by  a  lesser  number  of  horses.1 

SIGNIFICANT  ILLUSTRATIONS  OF  VARIATIONS  IN  THE  DISTRIBUTION 
OF  HORSE  LABOR 

In  the  discussion  of  the  influence  of  good  farm  organization  and 
operation  on  the  even  distribution  of  horse  labor  thruout  the  year, 
the  following  principal  factors  have  been  emphasized:  (1)  a  good 
crop  rotation,  (2)  the  winter  feeding  of  live  stock,  and  (3)  the  care- 
ful planning  of  the  wrork  from  day  to  day  and  from  season  to  season. 

In  Figs.  9  and  11  is  shown  the  evenness  in  monthly  distribution 
of  horse  labor  which  would  result  from  using  a  crop  rotation  con- 


gee University  of  Illinois  Extension  Circular  20  for  a  brief  discussion  of  the 
life  of  man  labor  on  the  farm.  This  circular  also  gives  a  work  calendar  listing 
all  ordinary  farm  operations  by  months,  and  indicating  whether  they  are  fixed, 
semi-fixed,  or  movable.  The  division  of  labor  is  also  shown  by  crop,  live-stock, 
and  miscellaneous  enterprizes. 


200 


BULLETIN  No.  231 


[February, 


FIG.  14. — GOOD  MONTHLY  DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  SECURED  ON  A  FARM 
OF  160  ACRES  BY  THE  USE  OF  A  GOOD  CROP  EOTATION  INCLUDING  A  CONSIDERABLE 
AMOUNT  OF  FALL  PLOWING  AND  THE  WINTER  FEEDING  OF  LIVE  STOCK 

structed  with  a  view  to  securing  a  good  distribution  of  horse  labor 
as  well  as  to  meeting  the  other  requirements  of  a  good 'system  of 
cropping. 

The  significance  of  differences  which  may  result  from  differences 
in  the  methods  of  farm  organization  and  operation  is  shown  by  con- 
trasting Figs.  14  and  15.  Fig.  14  shows  the  distribution  of  all  horse 
labor  used  on  a  160-acre  farm  during  1913,  a  somewhat  representative 
year  from  the  standpoint  of  the  use  of  horse  labor.  The  farm  repre- 
sented by  this  figure  used  a  fairly  good  crop  rotation,  carried  on  the 
winter  feeding  of  general  live  stock  to  some  extent,  and  managed  its 
work  so  as  to  do  considerable  fall  plowing.  This  farm  was  fairly 
typical  of  the  most  efficiently  operated  farms  and  secured  its  horse 
labor  at  a  cost  somewhat  below  the  average  of  all  the  farms  studied. 
This  figure  indicates  that  it  is  practicable,  under  actual  farming  con- 
ditions, to  secure  a  good  distribution  of  horse  labor  thruout  the  crop- 
ping season  where  a  good  rotation  of  crops  is  used  and  the  work  is 
carefully  planned  for  efficient  farm  operation.  It  indicates  also  that 
some  productive  horse  labor  can  be  provided  during  the  winter  months 
thru  the  winter  feeding  of  live  stock. 

Fig.  15  shows  the  distribution  of  all  horse  labor  used  on  a  320- 
acre  farm  on  which  a  somewhat  poorer  rotation  was  used.  On  this 
farm  practically  no  winter  feeding,  other  than  the  fattening  of  hogs, 
was  carried  on  and  very  little  fall  plowing  was  done.  This  farm  wras 
among  the  least  efficient  in  the  use  of  horse  labor  of  the  farms  studied. 
Because  of  the  poor  distribution  of  horse  labor,  a  relatively  large  num- 
ber of  horses,  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  crop  acres,  had  to  be 


1921] 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


201 


FIG.  15. — POOR  MONTHLY  DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  EESULTING  ON  A 
320-AcRE  FARM  FROM  A  POOR  EOTATION  INCLUDING  LITTLE  FALL  PLOWING  AND 
VERY  LITTLE  WINTER  FEEDING  OF  LIVE  STOCK 

carried.     The  costs  per  unit  of  work  done  were  therefore  relatively 
high  as  compared  with  most  of  the  other  farms  studied. 

These  figures — Nos.  14  and  15 — represent  the  horse  labor  on  farms 
carrying  on  the  same  general  type  of  farming,  altho  the  crops  produced 
were  grown  in  somewhat  different  proportions  and  the  system  of  live- 
stock production  followed  was  somewhat  different.  Both  of  these 
farms,  however,  are  representative  of  a  considerable  number  of  farms 
in  the  region  in  which  they  are  located.  A  study  of  the  differences 
in  efficiency  in  the  use  of  horse  labor  found  on  these  two  farms  makes 
it  apparent  that  very  substantial  economies  can  be  effected  thru  the 
introduction  of  the  most  improved  methods  of  farm  organization  and 
operation. 


202  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

PART  IV 
ANALYSIS  OF  FARM  HORSE-POWER  REQUIREMENTS 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  ALL  FARM  OPERATIONS 

In  order  to  determine  as  definitely  as  possible  the  adaptation  of 
the  horse  in  performing  various  kinds  of  farm  work  as  compared  with 
other  sources  of  farm  power,  an  analysis  was  made  of  all  the  farm 
operations  which  occurred  on  the  farms  studied.  On  the  basis  of  a 
careful  study  of  all  the  cost-accounting  records  available,  as  well  as 
the  experience  of  a  large  number  of  farmers  using  both  tractors  and 
horses,  all  the  work  performed  on  these  farms,  whether  actually  done 
by  horses  or  not,  was  divided  into  three  classes :  strictly  horse,  or  non- 
tractor,  work,  doubtful  tractor  work,  and  tractor  work.  This  classi- 
fication is  shown  in  Table  9. 

On  only  a  few  of  the  farms  included  in  the  detailed  cost-accounting 
studies  were  tractors  used.  The  data  available,  however,  show  in  de- 
tail all  the  operations  performed  on  these  farms  during  the  five-year 
period  from  1913  to  1917.  They  show  also  the  number  of  horses  used 
in  each  operation  and  the  amount  of  time  spent,  down  to  quarter 
hours,  on  all  the  work  performed  during  this  period.  Because  of 
these  facts  it  was  felt  that  the  data  offered  a  satisfactory  basis  for 
analyzing  the  work  done  and  classifying  it  in  accordance  with  the 
experience  of  the  farmers  using  both  horse  and  mechanical  power. 

Under  tractor  operations  are  included  plowing,  disking,  harrow- 
ing, and  practically  all  operations  involving  soil  preparation,  as  it 
was  assumed  that  the  soil  conditions  would  be  favorable  and  the 
tractor  light  enough  so  that  in  any  of  these  operations  there  would 
be  no  damage  to  the  soil  by  packing.  In  making  this  classification  it 
was  also  assumed  that  in  some  cases  two  or  more  of  these  operations, 
would  be  combined,  e.  g.,  disking  and  harrowing,  or  harrowing  and 
rolling,  as  is  frequently  done  in  field  practice  where  the  tractor  is  used. 

Doubtful  tractor  operations  as  classified  in  this  analysis  include 
the  drilling  of  small  grain;  rolling  under  certain  conditions,  as  in 
rolling  corn  with  a  corrugated  roller;  harvesting  corn  with  a  corn 
binder ;  harvesting  small  grains,  soybeans,  and  timothy ;  and  pulling 
a  hay  loader.  All  these  operations  are  at  times  performed  with  a 
tractor,  but  much  more  frequently  they  are  performed  with  horses 
even  when  a  tractor  is  available.  The  hauling  of  purchased  feed,  fer- 
tilizers, such  as  limestone  and  phosphate,  and  building  materials,  such 
as  gravel,  lumber,  lime,  and  cement,  are  also  classified  as  doubtful 
tractor.  It  is  assumed  that  in  order  to  make  such  hauling  practicable 
with  the  tractor,  a  train  of  two  or  more  wagons  would  have  to  be  used. 
Any  question,  however,  as  to  whether  these  operations  should  be  clas- 
sified as  tractor  or  as  non-tractor  has  very  little  influence  on  any  con- 
clusion which  might  be  arrived  at  as  a  result  of  a  study  of  the  total 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


203 


TABLE  9. — SHOWING  OPERATIONS  CLASSIFIED  AS  TRACTOR,  NON-TRACTOR,  AND 

DOUBTFUL-TRACTOR;    ALSO  CLASSIFIED  AS  FIXED  (F),  SEMI-FIXED/  (S), 

AND  MOVABLE   (M) 


Tractor  operations 


Doubtful-tractor  operations 


Non-tractor  operations 


S.     Plowing 
F.     Disking 
F.     Harrowing 
S.     Cutting  stalks 

(with  disk) 
F.     Dragging   (field) 
M.     Pulling  hedges 
F.     Boiling  and  harrowing 

corn  (combined) 
F.     Cultivating  for  oats 
F.     Disking  and  harrowing 

(combined) 
S.     Working  roads  with 

grader 

F.     Harrowing  stalks 
F.     Pulverizing  with 

Tower  Pulverizer 
F.     Rolling  and  harrowing 

(combined) 


M.     Haulijig  gravel 

(more  than  one 

wagon) 
S.     Rolling 
F.     Drilling  wheat,  oats, 

and  rye 
F.     Cutting  corn  with 

binder 
F.     Cutting  small  grain 

with  binder 
F.     Cutting  soybeans  with 

binder 
F.     Cutting  timothy   with 

binder 

F.     Pulling  hay  loader 
F.     Other  hay  work; 

hoisting 
M.     Hauling   feed    (more 

than  one  wagon) 
M.     Hauling  fertilizers 

(more  than  one 

wagon) 


F.     Cultivating  corn 
F.     Mowing  hay 
F.     Planting  corn 
F.     Husking  corn 
S.     Hauling  manure 
F.     Plowing   in   gardens, 
truck    patches,    and 
around  ends  of  fields 
M.     Horse  labor  for  house- 
hold and  personal  use 
F.     Feeding  live  stock 
M.     Miscellaneous  hauling 

about  farm 

M.     Hauling  small  quanti- 
ties   of   products    to 
and  from  market 
S.     Working  in  garden 
M.     Working  around  farm- 
stead 

F.     Cultivating  soybeans 
F.     Seeding  soybeans 
F.     Working  in  seed-corn 

plot 

F.     Threshing;    hauling 
F.     Raking  hay 
F.     Tedding  hay 
F.     Putting  hay  into  barn 

or  stack 
F.     Picking  up  corn  after 

binder 

S.     Hulling  clover;  haul- 
ing 

S.     Mowing  weeds 
S.     Opening  ditches  along 

fence  rows 
M.     Baling  hay  and  straw ; 

hauling 

F.     Sowing  grass  seed 
F.     Gathering  seed  corn 
F.     Hauling  fodder 
F.     Cultivating  corn  with 

weeder 

S.     Raking  stubble  field 
M.     Building  and  repair- 
ing fences 
S.     Breaking  stalks  in 

winter 
F.     Cutting  stalks  with 

stalk  cutter 
F.     Harrowing  corn 
F.     Rolling  corn 
F.     Drilling  alfalfa 
F.-    Rolling 
F.     Curing  alfalfa 
F.     Filling  silo;  hauling 
F.     Drilling  small  grain 
(one-horse  drill  in 
standing  corn) 


204 


BULLETIN  No.  231 


[February, 


1921}  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  205 

labor  requirements  of  the  farms  under  consideration,  since  these  oper- 
ations make  up  such  a  relatively  small  part  of  the  total  labor  used. 

The  non-tractor  operations  include  by  far  the  largest  number  of 
individual  farm  operations.  Naturally  many  of  these  are  of  a  minor 
character  and  therefore  require  relatively  small  amounts  of  horse 
labor.  In  the  aggregate,  however,  they  make  up  a  large  proportion 
of  the  total  labor  used  on  the  farms  studied. 

Planting,  cultivating,  and  husking  corn,  mowing  hay,  and  haul- 
ing manure  are  among  the  more  important  operations  classified  as 
non-tractor.  It  is  recognized  that  corn  cultivation  and  many  of  the 
other  operations  classified  as  non-tractor  can  be  and  are  sometimes 
performed  by  tractors.  In  making  the  present  classification,  however, 
the  operations  were  listed  in  accordance  with  the  most  economical 
means  of  getting  the  work  done,  as  determined  by  the  experience  of 
the  great  majority  of  tractor  users.  If  a  tractor  were  used  for  work 
which  could  as  well  be  done  by  the  number  of  horses  which  it  was 
actually  necessary  to  carry,  that  is,  unless  it  actually  displaced  horses, 
the  horses  would  be  standing  idle  while  the  tractor  would  be  receiving 
wear  and  tear,  and  the  total  cost  of  performing  the  farm  operations 
would  not  be  reduced  but  rather  increased. 

Naturally  any  changes  in  the  design  and  construction  of  the 
tractor  which  will  tend  to  prolong  its  life,  increase  its  adaptation,  or 
reduce  its  cost,  will  tend  to  increase  its  range  of  economic  adaptation. 
It  is  likewise  obvious  that  the  same  general  considerations  must  apply 
to  the  horse ;  if  he  is  to  produce  the  most  economic  results,  he  must 
be  of  the  type  which  will  insure  the  highest  grade  of  service  over  the 
longest  period  of  time  for  a  given  amount  of  money  invested  or  ex- 
pense incurred. 

It  is  evident  that  any  classification  of  farm  operations  such  as  is 
here  attempted  must  be  to  some  extent  arbitrary.  Because  the  oper- 
ations studied  represented  individual  farm  conditions,  and  because 
the  actual  fields,  horses,  equipment,  and  other  details  were  known  to 
those  making  the  distributions,  variations  from  this  classification  were 
made  when  circumstances  warranted.  To  illustrate,  while  plowing  in 
large  fields  was  always  classified  as  tractor  work,  regardless  of  whether 
it  was  done  by  two,  three,  or  five  horses,  the  plowing  of  gardens,  truck 
patches,  or  small  corners  was  classed  as  horse  labor,  because  farmers 
generally  have  found  it  impracticable  to  do  it  with  the  tractor.  Also, 
on  the  farms  where  wheat  or  rye  was  drilled  with  one-  or  two-horse 
drills,  such  operations  were  classified  with  drilling  as  doubtful  tractor 
labor.  When  the  same  one-horse  drill  was  used  to  drill  wheat  or  rye 
in  standing  corn,  the  operation  was  classed  as  strictly  horse,  or  non- 
tractor,  labor. 


206  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

ANALYSIS  OF  ALL  WORK  DONE  ON  ALL  FARMS,  1913  TO  1917 

In  Fig.  17  is  shown,  by  months,  the  distribution  of  all  horse  labor 
(expressed  in  terms  of  horse  hours)  for  all  the  farms  in  Hancock 
county  which  were  studied  during  the  five-year  period  from  1913  to 
1917.  The  labor  is  represented  as  tractor,  nor^tractor,  and  doubtful 
tractor  in  accordance  with  the  classification  shown  in  Table  9. 

The  graph  shows  clearly  that  a  relatively  large  proportion  of 
the  total  amount  of  labor  may  be  classed  as  non-tractor,  or  strictly 


FIG.  17. — MONTHLY  DISTRIBUTION  OF  HORSE  LABOR  CLASSIFIED  AS  TRACTOR, 
NON-TRACTOR,  AND  DOUBTFUL  TRACTOR,  AS  AN  AVERAGE  OF  ALL  FARMS,  1913-1917 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  207 

horse,  labor ;  and  that  even  tho  all  the  doubtful  tractor  labor  should 
be  classed  as  tractor  labor,  the  relation  between  tractor  and  non- 
tractor  labor  would  remain  substantially  the  same.  Thus,  it  is  evi- 
dent that  unless  the  tractor  can  be  economically  adapted  to  the  per- 
formance of  a  much  larger  amount  of  the  farm  work  than  is  shown 
in  this  figure,  a  very  considerable  proportion  of  all  work  on  farms 
similar  to  those  here  represented  must  continue  to  be  done  by  horses. 

The  following  figures,  showing  the  proportion  of  the  various  crops 
included  in  the  rotation  areas  on  these  farms,  will  indicate  somewhat 
definitely  the  cropping  systems  practiced.  Of  the  total  area  in  crops, 
corn  made  up  48  percent ;  oats,  22  percent ;  wheat,  5  percent ;  mixed 
hay,  16  percent;  and  clover,  9  percent.  These  proportions  are  fairly 
representative  of  the  entire  central  section  of  Illinois  and  are  not  es- 
sentially different  from  those  found  in  many  of  the  important  corn- 
belt  areas. 

By  making  a  somewhat  more  detailed  analysis  of  the  percentages 
of  the  various  classes  of  labor,  as  shown  in  Fig.  17,  the  proportion  of 
the  horses  that  could  be  displaced  if  a  tractor  were  purchased,  may  be 
determined.  It  will  be  noted  first  of  all  that  the  peak  load  of  labor 
comes  during  the  month  of  May.  This  was  true  almost  invariably  for 
all  the  farms  studied,  except  during  1914,  when  some  of  the  farms 
performed  the  peak  load  during  the  month  of  April,  owing  to  an  un- 
usually early  spring  and  especially  favorable  conditions  for  doing 
field  work.  It  is  evident  that  the  number  of  horses  which  must  be 
kept  on  a  farm  using  only  horses  will  be  determined  by  the  peak  load 
of  total  labor  requirements,  while  on  a  tractor  farm  the  number  of 
horses  that  must  be  kept  will  be  determined  by  the  peak  load  of  non- 
tractor  work,  or  by  the  peak  load  of  non-tractor  and  doubtful  tractor 
work  combined.  Thus,  on  farms  similar  to  those  represented  in 
Fig.  17,  which  use  only  horses,  the  number  of  horses  that  must  be 
kept  will  be  determined  by  the  peak  load  of  labor  in  May ;  while  on 
similar  farms,  on  which  both  tractors  and  horses  are  used,  the  num- 
ber of  horses  that  must  be  kept  will  be  determined  by  the  non-tractor 
peak  load  in  June,  or  by  the  combined  non-tractor  and  doubtful 
tractor  peak  load,  which  occurs  in  July. 

As  shown  in  Fig.  17,  the  peak  load  of  non-tractor,  or  horse,  labor 
performed  in  June  was  equal  to  65.6  percent  of  the  total  peak  load  in 
May.  As  compared  with  this,  the  peak  load  of  combined  non-tractor 
and  doubtful  tractor  work  performed  in  July  was  equal  to  77.9  per- 
cent of  the  total  peak  load  in  May. 

Since  the  combined  non-tractor  and  doubtful  tractor  labor  per- 
formed in  July  equaled  77.9  percent  of  the  maximum  peak-load  re- 
quirement, which  occurred  in  May,  it  is  estimated  that  the  tractor 
could  displace  a  minimum  of  22.1  percent  of  the  horses  required  on 
these  farms.  That  is,  a  tractor  could  displace  all  the  horses  required 


208  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 


FIG.  18. — THE  THING  THE  TRACTOR  DOES  BEST — PLOWING 
A  tractor  that  has  given  several  years  of  satisfactory  service  on  one  of  the 
cooperating  farms. 

to  do  the  work  above  the  level  of  the  maximum  combined  non-tractor 
and  doubtful  tractor  peak,  which  occurred  in  July.  If  it  is  assumed 
that  all  the  doubtful  labor  was  done  by  the  tractor,  the  maximum  peak 
load  of  horse  labor  would  fall  in  June.  This  equals  65.6  percent  of 
the  total  peak  load  in  May.  On  this  basis  it  is  estimated  that  some 
farms  working  under  especially  favorable  conditions  might  displace 
34.4  percent  of  their  horses.  In  this  connection  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that  the  one  hundred  farms  using  tractors,  as  shown  in  the  sum- 
mary of  the  tractor  survey  on  page  211,  displaced  on  the  average 
20.6  percent  of  their  horses ;  also  that  of  these  one  hundred  farms,  the 
twenty-four  that  were  apparently  making  the  most  efficient  use  of 
their  horses  and  tractors  were  able  to  displace  an  average  of  33.1  per- 
cent of  their  horses.  A  fuller  discussion  of  the  number  and  percent- 
age of  the  horses  that  can  be  displaced  when  a  tractor  is  introduced 
will  be  found  on  pages  217  to  219. 

The  high  peak  of  labor  for  June  and  July  shown  in  Fig.  17  is  made 
up  largely  of  labor  used  in  corn  cultivation,  especially  during  June, 
while  the  peak  for  April  and  May  is  largely  for  labor  used  in  soil 
preparation  and  planting.  Hence,  when  a  tractor  is  introduced,  the 
peak-load  period  of  horse  labor  shifts  from  the  months  of  soil  prepara- 
tion and  planting  to  these  summer  months  of  corn  cultivation.  If 
the  maximum  number  of  horses  is  to  be  displaced  when  the  tractor 
is  introduced,  it  becomes  increasingly  important  to  reduce  the  horse 
labor  required  in  corn  cultivation.  This  can  be  best  effected  by  the 
introduction  of  the  two-row  cultivator.  While  the  two-row  cultivator 


1921}  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  209 

may  not  save  a  great  amount  of  horse  labor  during  the  first  cultiva- 
tion of  corn,  it  makes  possible  a  considerable  reduction  in  horse  labor 
during  the  second  and  third  cultivation,  when  haymaking  and  wheat 
harvesting  compete  with  corn  cultivation  for  both  horse  and  man 
labor.  The  more  general  introduction  of  the  two-row  cultivator,  there- 
fore, should  assist  in  securing  the  maximum  displacement  of  horses 
when  a  tractor  is  used. 

From  the  analysis  thus  far  made,  it  is  evident  that  a  considerable 
number  of  operations  on  farms  similar  in  type  to  those  here  included, 
must  still  be  considered  strictly  horse,  or  non-tractor,  labor.  Since 
the  peak  load,  or  highest  requirement,  of  non-tractor  labor  must  de- 
termine within  fairly  narrow  limits  the  number  of  horses  that  must 
be  kept  when  a  tractor  is  introduced,  it  also  determines  somewhat  defi- 
nitely the  amount  of  work  which  the  tractor  will  perform  to  the  great- 
est advantage.  Thus,  on  the  farms  represented  in  Fig.  17  the  tractor 
will  have  its  greatest  advantage  in  performing  the  work  which  comes 
above  the  level  of  the  non-tractor  peak,  for  here  it  can  actually  dis- 
place horses  and  therefore  make  a  definite  saving.  Any  tractor  work, 
however,  represented  by  the  area  below  the  level  of  the  highest  non- 
tractor  peak  represents  work  which  might  have  been  done  by  the 
horses  necessarily  kept  to  perform  the  non-tractor  labor.  In  other 
words,  the  tractor  is  being  used  to  perform  work  that  could  be  done 
by  the  number  of  horses  which  must  necessarily  be  kept  to  do  the  non- 
tractor  work,  and  the  horses  are  idle  while  the  tractor  is  doing  their 
work. 

It  will  be  noted  from  Fig.  17  that  the  non-tractor,  or  strictly  horse, 
labor  is  distributed  much  more  evenly  thruout  the  year  than  is  the 
combined  tractor,  non-tractor,  and  doubtful  tractor  labor.  It  is  evident, 
therefore,  that  the  horses  which  must  be  kept  to  do  the  non-tractor 
work  can  be  used  to  much  better  advantage  when  a  tractor  is  intro- 
duced to  take  care  of  the  extreme  peak  load  of  labor,  which  occurs 
during  April,  May,  June,  and  July.  Each  horse  can  then  be  worked 
a  greater  number  of  hours  during  the  year,  which  means  a  reduction 
in  the  cost  per  hour  or  other  units  of  work  performed  by  horses.  Be- 
cause of  these  facts  it  becomes  increasingly  difficult  for  the  tractor  to 
compete  economically  with  the  horse  in  the  performance  of  the  work 
which  is  classified  as  strictly  horse  work. 

Since  the  tractor  has  a  special  advantage  in  performing  that  por- 
tion of  the  work  in  which  it  can  actually  displace  horses,  it  follows 
that  it  should  be  purchased  mainly  to  take  care  of  this  strictly  tractor 
peak  and  that  on  those  farms  which  are  large  enough  to  fully  utilize  a 
tractor  in  the  performance  of  this  portion  of  their  work,  it  will  have 
its  greatest  advantage. 


210  BULLETIN  No.  231 

PART  V 
THE  TEACTOR  SURVEY 

LOCATION  AND  DISTRIBUTION  OF  TRACTORS  STUDIED 

In  order  to  learn  as  accurately  as  possible  what  results  the  average 
tractor  owner  is  actually  obtaining  in  the  operation  of  his  tractor  un- 
der field  conditions,  a  survey  of  one  hundred  farms  using  tractors 
was  made  during  the  winter  of  1918-1919.  These  farms  are  all  located 
in  the  central  portion  of  the  state,  as  follows : 

Woodford  county 27  tractors 

McLean  county  21  tractors 

Tazewell  county    21  tractors 

Champaign  county 26  tractors 

Moultrie  county 4  tractors 

Bureau  county  1  tractor 

In  Woodford,  McLean,  Tazewell,  and  Champaign  counties  a  farm- 
to-farm  survey  was  made  in  cooperation  with  the  farm  advisers,  who 
assisted,  in  so  far  as  possible,  in  the  securing  of  records.  Information 
was  obtained  from  practically  every  farmer  in  the  areas  selected  who 
had  used  a  tractor  one  or  mere  seasons.  A  few  individuals  were 
missed  because  of  absence,  but  the  principle  of  getting  a  fair  average 
of  tractor  experience  was  strictly  adhered  to.  The  five  records  secured 
in  Moultrie  and  Bureau  counties  were  obtained  somewhat  incidentally 
in  connection  with  farm-management  extension  work  in  those  coun- 
ties. A  number  of  records  were  also  obtained  in  southern  Illinois. 
These  are  not  included,  however,  with  those  from  the  corn-belt  sec- 
tion. In  no  case  did  tractor  owners  refuse  to  give  the  data  asked 
for,  and  it  is  thru  their  hearty  cooperation  that  the  results  of  their 
experience  are  here  made  available. 

GENERAL  SUMMARY  OF  TRACTOR  DATA 

The  averages  of  the  one  hundred  records  secured  from  tractor 
farms  in  the  corn-belt  section  are  summarized  in  Table  10. 

Thirty  of  the  tractor  owners  had  had  previous  tractor  experience, 
an  average  of  six  and  one-half  years  each.  Eighty-eight  had  had 
automobile  experience,  and  ninety-two  had  had  experience  witli  gas 
engines.  Many  of  the  tractor  operators  expressed  the  opinion  that  it 
would  pay  prospective  tractor  operators  to  attend  a  tractor  school 
before  attempting  to  run  a  tractor.  Practically  all  the  tractors  were 
run  by  the  owner  or  some  member  of  the  family. 

Thirty-two  farmers  used  the  tractor  for  cutting  grain.  One  farmer 
pulled  two  binders  with  his  tractor,  while  the  others  pulled  only  one, 
with  a  man  to  operate  the  tractor  and  another  the  binder.  The  ad- 
vantage claimed  for  using  the  tractor  to  harvest  grain  was  that  in  hot 
weather  very  much  more  grain  could  be  cut  per  day  than  would  be 


1931} 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


211 


TABLE  10. — SUMMARY  OF  TRACTOR  SURVEY 
(Average  of  100  farms) 


Years  of  tractor  use 2.21 

Size  of  farms,  acres 294. 

Crop  acres 246.7 

Corn  acreage    120. 

Oats   acreage    76.7 

Wheat  acreage  , 26.8 

Hay  acreage 23.2 

Number  of  work  horses  in  1918 9.14 

Number  of  work  horses  before  getting  tractor 11.52 

Number  of  horses  displaced 2.38 

Percentage  of  horses  displaced 20.67 

Crop  acres  per  horse  before  getting  tractor 21.4 

Crop  acres  per  horse  in  1918 27. 

Cost   of   tractor $1134.49 

Cost  of  plows $151.85 

Hours  required  daily  for  tractor  chores .95 

Estimated  life  of  tractor,  years 5.8 

Number  of  three-plow  tractors   85. 

Number  of  two-plow  tractors 10. 

Number  of  more-than-three-plow  tractors 5. 

Work  Done  with  Tractor  in  1918 

Plowing 117.37  16.79 

Disking 94.44  4.72 

Harrowing  or  rolling 38.07  .76 

Cutting  grain  or  loading  hay 29.62  1.18 

Eoad   work    1.23 

Total  traction  work ....  24.68 

Belt  work   J^J_L_  5.17 

Total  tractor  work ~7. 29.85 

Calculated  from  the  amount  of  work  done,  using  seven  acres  of  plowing, 
twenty  acres  of  disking,  fifty  acres  of  harrowing,  and  twenty-five  acres  of  grain 
cutting  as  a  full  day's  work  for  a  three-plow  tractor. 

possible  with  a  four-horse  team.     On  two  of  the  farms  the  tractors 
were  also  used  in  pulling  a  hay  loader. 

In  cases  where  the  size  of  the  farm  was  increased  after  a  tractor 
was  purchased,  the  number  of  horses  displaced  was  calculated  on  the 
basis  of  the  number  that  would  have  been  needed  with  the  increased 
acreage  if  no  tractor  had  been  added.  For  example,  if  ten  horses  had 
worked  200  crop  acres  before  a  tractor  was  purchased  and  240  crop 
acres  afterwards,  the  tractor  was  credited  with  displacing  two  horses, 
based  on  the  calculation  that  without  the  tractor  twelve  horses  would 
have  been  required.  When  the  crop  acres  were  reduced  after  a  tractor 
was  obtained,  corresponding  adjustments  were  made.  It  is  interesting 
to  note,  however,  that  only  three  farmers  increased  their  crop  acreage 
after  purchasing  a  tractor,  one  by  50  acres  and  the  other  two  by 
80  acres  each.  One  farmer  worked  30  crop  acres  less  after  adding 
a  tractor. 


212  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

On  the  basis  of  the  best  figures  available,1  it  is  estimated  that  the 
cost  of  operating  a  farm  tractor  varies  from  $300  to  $600  a  year.  In 
order  to  justify  this  expenditure  it  seems  logical  to  assume  that  the 
farmer  must  effect  a  corresponding  saving  at  some  other  point  in  his 
business,  or  bring  about  a  corresponding  increase  in  production. 

BASIS  FOR  STUDYING  THE  USE  OF  THE  TRACTOR 

In  order  to  determine  as  accurately  as  possible  what  influence  the 
tractors  studied  had  upon  the  farm  returns,  the  data  obtained  from 
the  one  hundred  farms  will  be  considered  on  the  basis  of  the  follow- 
ing five  important  factors:  (1)  custom  work  done;  (2)  belt  work 
done  on  own  farm;  (3)  increases  in  crop  yields;  (4)  saving  in  man 
labor;  and  (5)  saving  in  horse  labor. 

Custom  Work  Done. — The  possibility  for  profitably  doing  custom 
work  seems  to  have  been  rather  limited  so  far  as  field  work  is  con- 
cerned. A  few  of  the  tractors  studied  were  used  for  road  grading. 
If  such  work  can  be  done  during  slack  periods  it  may  prove  to  be  a 
profitable  undertaking.  Doing  belt  work,  such  as  threshing,  filling 
silos,  and  shelling  corn  for  other  farmers  may  perhaps  also  be  done  at 
a  profit,  altho  the  margin  of  profit  does  not  seem  to  be  great  enough  to 
induce  many  tractor  operators  to  leave  their  own  farms.  Only  four- 
teen of  the  one  hundred  tractor  owners  did  custom  belt  work.  Four 
of  these  fourteen  did  road  grading  in  addition.  The  amount  of  belt 
work  done  by  these  fourteen  tractors  averaged  19.8  days  per  tractor 
per  year.  Table  11  shows  the  kind  and  amount  of  belt  work  done  by 
the  fourteen  tractor  owners  who  did  custom  work. 

TABLE  11. — CUSTOM  BELT  WORK  DONE  BY  TRACTOR  OWNERS 


Kin.l   of  work 

Number  of  tractor  owners 

Days  work  per  tractor 

Threshing   

13 

Average 
15.6 

Cutting  silage   

5 

3.6 

Shelling  corn  

1 

15.0 

Hulling  clover  

2 

17.5 

Baling1  hay  or  straw.  . 

1 

7.0 

Belt  Work  Done  on  Own  Farm. — Sixty-six  of  the  one  hundred 
farmers  used  their  tractors  for  belt  work,  fifty-two  of  them  on  their 
own  farms  only,  and  fourteen,  as  previously  stated,  for  custom  work 
as  well.  The  average  amount  of  this  work  on  the  fifty-two  farms  not 
doing  custom  work  was  five  days  per  year.  Table  12  shows  the  kind 
and  amount  of  each  class  of  belt  work  done. 


1Based  on  records  kept  by  the  Farm,  Mechanics  Division,  and  cost-accounting 
data  secured  by  the  Department  of  Farm  Organization  and  Management,  Uni- 
versity of  Illinois. 


19S1] 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


213 


TABLE  12. — BELT  WORK  DONE  BY  TRACTOR  OWNERS  ON  THEIR  OWN  FARMS 


Kind  of  belt  work 

Number  of  tractor  owners 

Days  work  per  farm 

Threshing   

7 

Average 
2.5 

Cutting  silage   

21 

2.1 

Shelling  corn  

5 

2.1 

Baling  hay  and  straw  

12 

3.8 

Grinding  feed   

25 

3.4 

Running  grain  dump  

7 

3.3 

Cutting  wood  . 

12 

2.1 

Three  of  the  seven  tractor  owners  who  reported  using  their 
tractors  for  threshing  are  also  included  in  the  twenty-one  who  used 
their  tractors  for  cutting  silage,  while  four  did  threshing  only.  Thus, 
twenty-five  in  all  did  either  threshing  or  silage  cutting,  or  both ;  that 
is,  25  percent  of  the  total  number  of  tractor  owners  used  their  tractors 
for  heavy  belt  work.  The  lighter  belt-work  operations,  such  as  grind- 
ing feed,  shelling  corn,  or  cutting  wood,  were  more  or  less  incidental 
and  would  not  in  themselves  justify  the  purchase  of  a  high-priced 
power  outfit,  nor  would  they  contribute  much  towards  making  it  pay 
for  itself. 

There  are  other  sources  of  power  which  may  compete  with  the  gas 
tractor  in  doing  belt  work ;  namely,  electric  motors,  portable  gas  en- 
gines, steam  engines,  and  horses.  Some  corn-belt  farmers  are  making 
excellent  use  of  good  horse-power  outfits  for  corn  crushing  and  similar 
work,  which  usually  comes  during  the  slack  season.  For  this  work  it 


FIG.  19. — A  SMALL-SIZED  THRESHER  HELPING  TO  SOLVE  THE  LABOR  PROBLEM 

This  tractor  has  furnished  satisfactory  belt  power  for  threshing  on  several 
of  the  cooperating  farms. 


214  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

is  of  advantage  to  use  horses,  not  only  because  they  furnish  belt  power 
at  low  cost,  but  also  because  such  work  helps  to  keep  the  farm  horses 
in  better  condition.  Horses  also  have  some  obvious  advantages  over 
gas  engines  in  cold  weather.  Which  of  these  sources  of  power  will  be 
the  most  economical  will  depend  on  local  conditions  and  upon  the  pos- 
sibility of  hiring  power  for  the  heavy  belt  work  when  it  is  needed. 

Increase  in  Crop  Yields. — Claims  are  often  made  that  the  tractor 
enables  the  farmer  to  plow  deeper,  to  do  the  work  in  a  shorter  time, 
and  to  better  prepare  the  seed  bed.  All  these  advantages  should  ulti- 
mately be  reflected  in  the  crop  yields.  None  of  the  one  hundred 
farmers  interviewed,  however,  gave  increased  crop  yields  as  an  ad- 
vantage for  the  tractor.  Some  mentioned  deeper  plowing  and  timeli- 
ness as  advantages,  but  they  were  not  prepared  to  say  that  these  ad- 
vantages had  as  yet  been  reflected  in  greater  crop  yields.  It  is  quite 
probable  that  the  use  of  the  tractor  has  resulted  in  increased  crop 
yields  where  the  horse  power  was  inadequate  to  properly  perform  the 
work  before  the  tractor  was  added. 

Saving  in  Man  Labor. — At  no  time  has  the  tractor  had  a  better  op- 
portunity to  effect  a  saving  in  man  labor  than  during  the  season  of 
1918.  Unless  the  situation  is  analyzed  carefully,  however,  there  may 
be  an  over-estimation  of  the  importance  of  the  saving  in  man  labor 
that  resulted  from  the  use  of  the  tractor  during  that  period.  Dur- 
ing that  year  more  acres  were  worked  per  man  on  farms  in  general, 
whether  tractors  were  operated  or  horses  alone  were  depended  on  for 
power.  This  was  accomplished  in  part  by  working  harder,  and  in 
part  by  confining  work  almost  entirely  to  productive  enterprizes. 
Much  work,  such  as  repairing  fences  and  buildings,  was  postponed 
until  more  help  was  available,  and  in  general,  labor  was  concen- 
trated on  crop  production. 

The  number  of  days  of  plowing  done  with  the  tractor  on  these  one 
hundred  farms,  as  shown  in  Table  10,  averaged  16.8  per  farm.  The 
number  of  days  of  disking  averaged  4.7.  These  were  practically  the 
only  operations  in  which  any  saving  in  man  labor  resulted.  Counting 
seven  acres  as  a  day's  plowing  with  a  three-plow  tractor,  the  farmer 
may  accomplish  50  to  75  percent  more  work  with  a  tractor  than  he 
could  with  the  usual  four-  or  five-horse  team.  Applying  the  same  ad- 
vantage to  disking,  a  saving  of  sixteen  days  in  man  labor  may  be  as- 
sumed to  result  from  the  introduction  of  the  tractor — that  is,  75  per- 
cent of  21.5,  the  average  number  of  days  of  plowing  and  disking  done 
with  the  tractor.  The  peak-load  period  of  horse  labor,  which  in  the 
corn  belt  comes  during  April  and  May,  lends  itself  well  to  the  use 
of  the  tractor,  since  it  is  made  up  largely  of  plowing,  disking,  harrow- 
ing, and  similar  tractor  operations.  But  the  peak-load  of  man  labor 
comes  in  June  and  July  during  corn  cultivation,  haying,  and  harvest- 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  215 

ing.  If  extra  men  could  be  hired  during  these  months  to  take  care  of 
this  peak-load,  the  saving  in  man  labor  during  April  and  May  made 
possible  by  the  use  of  the  tractor  would  naturally  become  of  much 
greater  importance,  since  more  land  could  then  be  farmed  by  a  given 
number  of  permanent,  or  yearly,  men. 

In  estimating  the  saving  in  man  labor  due  to  the  addition  of  the 
tractor,  there  must  also  be  taken  into  consideration  the  tendency 
toward  using  more  horses  per  man  for  plowing  and  disking,  which 
makes  it  possible  for  one  man  with  horses  to  equal  more  nearly  the 
performance  of  a  man  with  a  three-plow  tractor. 

It  is  evident,  therefore,  when  all  factors  are  considered,  that  on 
most  farms  the  saving  of  man  labor  is  not  a  large  item  in  favor  of  the 
tractor. 

Saving  in  Horse  Labor. — The  principal  saving  in  horse  costs  ef- 
fected by  the  tractor  must  come  thru  actually  displacing  horses.  It  is 
true  that  the  feed  cost  is  less  when  horses  are  idle  than  when  they  are 
at  hard  work,  but  most  farmers  agree  that  it  is  poor  practice  to  do 
work  with  a  tractor  which  could  be  done  by  horses  that  are  standing 
idle.  The  profitableness  of  the  tractor  in  the  corn  belt  depends  not 
so  much  on  the  total  number  of  days  it  is  used  per  year  as  on  its  abil- 
ity to  reduce  the  number  of  horses  that  need  to  be  kept  thruout  the 
entire  year  in  order  to  take  care  of  the  great  peak  load  of  horse  labor 
that  without  the  tractor  comes  at  the  time  of  spring  planting. 

That  a  tractor  makes  possible  the  obtaining  of  a  much  larger  num- 
ber of  days  of  work  per  horse  per  year  from  the  horses  which  must 
still  be  kept  when  a  tractor  is  added  has  already  been  pointed  out. 
This  additional  use  of  the  horses  means  of  course  that  they  will  need 
to  be  kept  indoors  and  fed  a  somewhat  heavier  ration  during  a  greater 
portion  of  the  year,  thus  increasing  slightly  the  carrying  cost  per 
horse  per  year ;  but  to  offset  this  disadvantage  is  the  advantage  that 
the  use  of  the  tractor  presents  in  relieving  the  horses  of  much  of  the 
heaviest  work  in  the  spring,  when  many  horses  become  badly  run 
down  and  consequently  require  extra  feed  to  bring  them  back  to  nor- 
mal condition  later  on  in  the  season,  and  in  having  them  better  fitted 
for  the  lighter  work,  such  as  harrowing,  cultivating  corn,  and  simi- 
lar operations. 

It  is  only  fair  to  point  out  here  that  the  tractor  possesses,  in  addi- 
tion to  its  advantage  in  saving  horse  labor,  a  still  further  advantage  in 
enabling  the  farmer  to  speed  up  the  work  of  ground  preparation.  If. 
for  example,  a  sixteen-horse  farm  (i.  e.,  a  farm  growing  about  320 
acres  of  crops)  adds  a  tractor  to  its  equipment  which  can  do  the  work 
of  eight  horses  in  plowing  or  disking,  it  can  dispose  of  four  horses  and 
still  have  the  equivalent  of  twenty  horses  available  for  the  work  to 
be  done. 


210 


BULLETIN   No.   231 


POSSIBILITIES  IN  USING  TRACTORS 

In  attempting  to  determine  as  accurately  as  possible  when  a  farmer 
may  logically  begin  to  consider  the  purchase  of  a  tractor,  the  question 
arises :  How  many  horses  can  be  carried  for  what  it  costs  to  operate 
and  maintain  a  tractor  f  for  as  has  already  been  stated,  the  number  of 
horses  which  can  be  displaced  is  the  chief  consideration.  As  a  rule, 
the  corn-belt  farmer  will  be  justified  in  considering  the  addition  of  a 
tractor  to  his  power  equipment  when  the  cost  of  carrying  the  horses 
which  can  be  displaced  is  equal  to  the  cost  of  operating  and  maintain- 
ing such  a  tractor. 

The  most  reliable  information  available  regarding  the  cost  of  oper- 
ating and  maintaining  tractors  has  been  collected  by  the  Farm  Me- 
chanics Division  of  the  University  of  Illinois.  The  average  cost  per 
tractor  during  1918  for  the  sixty-two  tractors  regarding  which  data 
were  gathered  was  found  to  be  $428.87.  This  cost  included  interest 
and  20  percent  depreciation  (the  original  cost  of  these  tractors  aver- 
aged $1,107.25).  The  average  cost  of  maintaining  a  farm  work  horse 
in  1918,  as  shown  in  Table  2,  was  $156.58.  Figured  011  this  basis,  the 
average  annual  cost  of  operating  and  maintaining  a  tractor  was  equal 
to  the  cost  of  keeping  2.7  horses. 

The  question  is  often  asked,  Do  not  farmers  displace  more  horses 
after  having  had  a  greater  amount  of  experience  with  their  tractors 
than  they  do  at  first?  In  Table  13  the  tractor  data  obtained  from 
the  one  hundred  farms  included  in  the  survey  are  summarized  ac- 
cording to  the  number  of  years  which  the  tractors  on  these  farms 

TABLE  13. — TRACTOR  DATA  SUMMARIZED  BY  YEARS  OF  TRACTOR  USE 


Years  of 
tractor    use 

Number 
of 
farms 

Average 
size  of 
farms, 
acres 

Average 
crop 
acres 

Percent- 
age 
horses 
displaced 

Crop  acres  per 
horse 

Days  of  tractor 
work 

1918 

Before 
getting 
tractor 

Trac- 
tion 

Belt 

1 
2 
3 
More  than  3 

29 
34 
25 
12 

265 
291 
290 
389 

215 
243 
243 
338 

20.8 
20.5 
23.2 
16.7 

'    26.8 
28.0 
27.0 
25.2 

21.2 
22.2 
20.7 
21.1 

28.6 
23.5 
23.1 
24.2 

3.5 
4.4 
5.5 

11.8 

had  been  used.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  most  efficient  use  of  horse 
and  tractor  power  as  indicated  by  the  crop  acres  per  horse  was  made 
on  the  farms  that  had  used  the  tractor  for  two  years.  However, 
neither  the  crop  acres  farmed  per  horse  in  1918,  nor  the  percentage 
of  horses  displaced,  seem  to  bear  any  consistent  relation  to  the  num- 
ber of  years  of  tractor  use. 

In  Table  14  the  data  are  summarized  according  to  the  number  of 
crop  acres  farmed. 

The  first  three  groups  of  farms  had  an  unusually  small  crop  acre- 
age per  horse  before  the  tractors  were  purchased ;  and  this  fact  partly 


1921} 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


217 


TABLE  14. — TRACTOR  DATA  SUMMARIZED  ON  THE  BASIS  OF  CROP  ACRES  FARMED 


Group 
No. 

Number 
of 
farms 

Average 
crop 
acres 

Percentage 
horses 
displaced 

Crop  acres  per  horse 

Days  of  tractor  work 

1918 

Before  getting 
tractor 

Traction 

Belt 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 

22 
22 
22 
18 
17 

130 
177 
215 
294 
465 

24.9 
25.4 
28,0 
15.5 
13.3 

24.9 
24.9 
27.5 
27.6 
28.3 

18.7 
18.5 
19.8 
23.4 
24.5 

17.6 
22.8 
27.8 
26.8 
30.2 

3.7 
3.4 
4.3 

10.2 
5.4 

accounts  for  the  large  proportion  (24.9  to  28  percent)  of  their  horses 
which  they  were  able  to  displace  when  they  added  a  tractor.  Before 
purchasing  tractors,  Groups  4  and  5  worked  from  four  to  six  more 
crop  acres  per  horse  than  did  Groups  1,  2,  and  3.  Afterwards  they 
worked  from  one-tenth  to  three  and  four-tenths  more  crop  acres  per 
horse  than  did  Groups  1,  2,  and  3.  Consequently,  altho  the  percentage 
of  horses  displaced  in  Groups  4  and  5  was  much  smaller  than  in 
Groups  1,  2,  and  3,  Groups  4  and  5  really  made  the  best  use  of  both 
their  horses  and  their  tractors.  With  one  exception,  the  days  of  trac- 
tion work  increased  somewhat  uniformly  with  the  size  of  the  farms. 
It  may  be  concluded,  therefore,  that  the  efficient  use  of  both  horses 
and  tractors  tends  to  increase  as  the  size  of  the  farm  increases  up  to 
the  point  represented  by  these  figures,  i.  e.,  465  acres. 

In  Table  15  the  data  are  summarized  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of 
horses  displaced  when  the  tractor  was  introduced.  The  variations  in 
the  percentage  of  horses  displaced  must  be  studied  in  connection  with 
the  crop  acres  worked  per  horse  before  the  tractor  was  used,  as  well  as 
the  crop  acres  worked  during  1918. 

The  first  group,  which  includes  but  one  farm,  added  two  horses 
in  1918,  as  well  as  the  tractor.  The  crop  acres  worked  per  horse  before 
the  tractor  was  obtained,  however,  had  been  unusually  high  (27.5). 


TABLE  15- 


-TRACTOR  DATA  SUMMARIZED  ON  THE  BASIS  OF  THE  NUMBER  OF 
HORSES  DISPLACED 


Group 
No. 

Number 
of 
farms 

Number 
of 
horses 
dis- 
placed 

Per- 
centage 
horses 
dis- 
placed 

Crop  acres 
per  horse 

Days  of  tractor 
work 

Average 
size 
of 
farms, 
acres 

Average 
crop 
acres 

1918 

Before 
getting 
tractor 

Traction 

Belt 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9l 

1 

28 
7 
18 
9 
24 
6 
6 
1 

-2 

0 

1/2  tO  1 

I%to2 
3 

4 
5 
6 
8 

0 
9.5 

20.3 
35.0 
33.1 
40,5 
30.8 
33.3 

22.9 
23.2 
23.1 
25.5 
31.0 
32.0 
31.1 
28.0 
43.1 

27,5 
23.2 
20.9 
20.3 
20.1 
21.4 
18,5 
19.4 
28.3 

29.0 
16.1 
19.3 
20.9 
JJ4.7 
33.1 
30.5 
42.0 
47.0 

2.0 
6.4 
6.0 
4.7 
4.7 
5.6 
.3 
4.2 
0 

320 
318 
240 
245 
202 
301 
278 
452 
740 

275 
266 
203 
191 
173 
259 
228 
378 
690 

JThis  farm  had  two  tractors. 


218 


BULLETIN  No.  231 


[February, 


Consequently,  even  after  two  work  horses  and  a  tractor  were  added, 
the  number  of  crop  acres  per  horse  was  still  almost  as  high  as  the  aver- 
age number  for  the  twenty-eight  farms  in  the  next  group,  which  dis- 
placed no  horses. 

The  twenty-four  farms  in  Group  6,  which  displaced  an  average  of 
four  horses,  or  33.1  percent,  apparently  made  the  best  use  of  their 
horses  and  tractors  combined  of  any  of  the  groups.  After  adding  the 
tractor,  these  farms  worked  an  average  of  32  crop  acres  per  horse,  the 
highest  acreage  for  any  group  excepting  the  single  farm  in  Group  9. 

The  fifteen  farms  in  Groups  5  and  7  made  almost  as  good  use  of 
their  horse  and  tractor  combinations  as  did  the  farms  in  Group  6.  They 
worked  an  average  of  31  and  31.1  crop  acres  per  horse,  respectively, 


FIG.  20. — A  WIDELY  USED  THREE-PLOW  MODEL 
Silage  cutting  is  one  of  the  most  important  belt-power  jobs. 


THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR 


219 


after  obtaining  a  tractor.  The  high  percentage  of  horses  displaced  by 
the  tractor  in  these  two  groups,  especially  in  Group  7,  was  due  to  the 
fact  that  these  farms  had  been  carrying  more  horses  than  were  really 
necessary  before  they  introduced  the  tractor.  The  farms  in  Group  7 
kept  an  average  of  12.3  horses  and  worked  only  18.5  crop  acres  per 
horse  before  getting  their  tractors.  If  they  had  worked  21.4  crop 
acres  per  horse  (the  average  number  for  the  entire  hundred  farms  be- 
fore adding  tractors),  they  would  have  needed  an  average  of  only 
10.6  horses  per  farm  instead  of  the  12.3  horses  actually  carried.  Un- 
der these  conditions,  with  a  displacement  of  3.3  horses  instead  of  5  per 
farm,  the  reduction  in  the  number  of  horses  would  have  equaled  31 
percent  instead  of  40.5  percent. 

The  single  farm  in  Group  9  actually  worked  the  largest  number  of 
crop  acres  per'  horse  both  before  and  after  introducing  the  tractor ; 
namely,  28.3  crop  acres  per  horse  before  adding  the  tractor  and  43.1 
crop  acres  afterward.  This  large  number  of  crop  acres  worked  per 
horse  both  before  and  after  the  tractor  was  introduced  was  made  pos- 
sible by  several  factors :  First,  the  farm  was  much  larger  than  the 
average  of  the  other  farms  studied,  this  factor  alone  making  possible 
the  use  not  only  of  one  but  of  two  tractors  to  good  advantage.  Then 
the  cropping  system  was  well  adapted  for  a  large  acreage,  and  the 
operation  of  the  farm  was  especially  efficient  thruout.  It  is  signifi- 
cant, however,  that  the  percentage  of  horses  displaced  by  the  two 
tractors  used  on  this  farm  was  33.3,  or  one-third  of  the  total  number, 
which  seems  to  represent  the  maximum  displacement  with  the  best 
management  and  under  present  conditions  of  tractor  development. 

Since  the  farms  in  Group  6  made  up  24  percent  of  the  total  num- 
ber of  farms  in  the  survey  and  on  the  whole  apparently  made  the  most 
efficient  use  of  their  horse  and  tractor  power,  it  may  be  worth  while 
to  study  this  group  somewhat  more  in  detail.  The  average  amount  of 
work  done  with  the  tractor  on  these  farms,  compared  with  the  average 
of  all  farms,  is  shown  in  Table  16. 

The  chief  advantage  in  the  use  of  the  tractors  in  Group  6  resulted 
from  their  larger  use  for  plowing  and  disking.  The  use  of  a  tractor  in 

TABLE  16. — AVERAGE  AMOUNT  OF  WORK  DONE  BY  THE  24  TRACTORS  USED  TO  BEST 
ADVANTAGE  COMPARED  WITH  AVERAGE  TRACTOR  WORK  ON  ALL  FARMS 


Average  of  24 
farms  in  Group  6 

Average  of 
all  farms 

\cres  plowed                

143 

117 

\cres  disked                                     

154 

94 

Acres  harrowed        

59 

38 

\cres  of  grain  cut                    

48 

29 

Days  of  road  work      .  .              

1 

1.2 

Total  days  of  traction  work  

33 

24.7 

Average  number  of  crorj  acres.  . 

259 

246 

220  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

pulling  an  eight-foot  grain  binder  is  not  economical  except  during  a 
hot  season,  when  horses  cannot  do  a  good  day's  work. 

From  the  results  which  these  one  hundred  representative  tractor 
owners  in  the  corn  belt  secured  with  their  tractors,  it  is  apparent  that 
some  were  working  so  large  a  crop  acreage  per  horse  before  securing 
a  tractor  that  they  were  unable  to  displace  many  of  their  horses  upon 
the  advent  of  the  tractor;  while  about  the  same  number  apparently 
had  more  horses  than  they  needed  before  getting  a  tractor  and  conse- 
quently were  able  to  dispose  of  a  relatively  high  percentage  of  their 
horses. 

Then,  too,  in  a  group  of  one  hundred  farmers  some  will  be  inclined 
to  "play  safe"  in  disposing  of  horses,  while  others  will  overdo  the 
matter  and  displace  too  many.  It  is  believed  that  the  average  of  the 
one  hundred  farms  included  in  this  survey  may  be  assumed  to  rep- 
resent fairly  accurately  the  average  possibilities  for  displacing  horses 
on  corn-belt  farms  under  present  conditions.  Naturally  any  changes 
in  the  type  of  farming,  the  design  of  tractors  and  farm  machinery, 
and  the  skill  of  the  tractor  operator  may  result  in  a  wider  or  narrower 
economic  adaptation  of  the  farm  tractor. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  this  study  of  the  tractor  has  been  con- 
lined  to  the  corn-belt  section  of  Illinois.  In  the  winter-wheat  section 
of  the  state  the  horse-labor  distribution  is  quite  different,  the  pro- 
portion of  possible  tractor  work  to  non-tractor  work  being  consider- 
ably higher.  When  winter  wheat,  instead  of  corn,  is  the  main  crop, 
the  peak  load  of  total  labor  comes  in  August  and  September,  rather 
than  in  April  and  May,  while  the  peak  load  of  non-tractor  work  comes 
in  July  and  is  considerably  lower  than  the  peak  load  of  total  labor.  On 
fifty  farms  located  in  Madison  and  Clinton  counties  in  which  the  crop 
acreage  was  made  up  of  winter  wheat,  57  percent ;  of  corn,  22  percent ; 
oats,  11  percent ;  and  hay,  10  percent,  30.4  percent  of  the  horses  were 
displaced  when  a  tractor  was  added.  The  fact  that  the  farms  in  the 
wheat-growing  counties  are  smaller  than  those  in  the  corn  belt  has 
been  the  principal  reason,  no  doubt,  for  fewer  tractors  being  used  in 
the  wheat-growing  section. 


1921]  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  221 


SUMMAKY 

Horse  labor  makes  up  from  30'  to  40  percent  of  all  farm  operating 
expense  in  the  corn  belt  and  is  the  one  item,  above  all  others,  which 
can  be  profitably  reduced  by  good  methods  of  farm  organization  and 
operation. 

TKe  Cost  of  Horse  Labor. — The  total  cost  of  horse  labor  on  the 
farms  under  investigation  in  Hancock  county,  during  the  years  1913 
to  1918,  was  found  to  be  made  up  in  the  following  proportions:  feed, 
72  percent;  labor,  11.28  percent;  interest,  8.03  percent;  shelter,  3.10 
percent;  harness,  3.44  percent;  and  miscellaneous  expenses,  2.2  per- 
cent. Thus,  the  cost  of  feed  is  the  most  important  item  to  be  considered 
in  studying  the  cost  of  carrying  farm  work  horses. 

The  average  annual  cost  of  keeping  horses  during  the  years  1913 
to  1916  inclusive,  on  the  farms  studied,  ranged  from  $87.09  to  $96.02 
per  horse.  In  1917  it  increased  to  $130.94  and  in  1918  to  $156.58. 

The  variations  in  efficiency  of  horse  labor  on  different  farms  in  the 
same  locality  were  extreme,  even  tho  the  conditions  of  production 
were  essentially  the  same.  Such  variations  may  be  responsible  for 
differences  of  from  $1.19  to  $4.58  in  the  cost  of  producing  one  acre  of 
ordinary  corn-belt  crops. 

Reducing  the  Cost  of  Horse  Labor. — Reducing  the  costs  of  horse 
labor  is  effected  by  reducing  the  total  carrying  cost  and  by  securing 
the  largest  possible  amount  of  productive  work  per  horse. 

Reducing  the  total  cost  of  carrying  horses  is  effected  mainly  by: 
(1)  economical  feeding,  care,  and  management;  (2)  raising  good 
colts;  and  (3)  reducing  depreciation  charges  so  far  as  possible. 

Securing  the  largest  amount  of  productive  work  per  horse  is 
effected  mainly  thru:  (1)  a  farm  sufficiently  large ;  (2)  a  good  rota- 
tion of  crops  which  will  provide  an  even  distribution  of  horse  labor 
thruout  the  year;  (3)  the  production  of  two  or  more  classes  of  live 
stock;  (4)  the  most  convenient  layout  of  the  field  system;  and  (5)  a 
careful  classifying  and  scheduling  of  all  farm  work  so  as  to  distribute 
the  fixed,  the  semi-fixed,  and  the  movable  horse  labor  as  evenly  as 
possible  thruout  the  year. 

Extreme  variations  in  the  distribution  of  horse  labor  thruout  the 
year  were  found  on  representative  farms.  These  variations  were  due 
largely  to  differences  in  the  crop  rotations  practiced.  Since  crops 
utilize  71  percent  of  the  total  horse  labor,  a  study  of  rotations  is  of 
great  importance. 

Displacement  of  Horses  by  the  Tractor. — Approximately  25  per- 
cent of  the  total  labor  performed  on  farms  may  be  classified  as  tractor, 
and  approximately  75  percent  as  either  non-tractor  or  doubtful  tractor 
labor. 


222  BULLETIN  No.  231  [February, 

When  only  horses  are  used  on  a  farm,  the  number  required  is  deter- 
mined by  the  peak  load  of  labor,  which  in  the  corn  belt  occurs  nor- 
mally during  the  month  of  May  in  connection  with  soil  preparation, 
corn  planting,  and  cultivation ;  but  when  a  tractor  is  added  to  the 
equipment,  the  number  of  horses  required  is  determined  by  the  peak 
load  of  non-tractor  labor,  which  occurs  in  June  and  July  in  connection 
with  corn  plowing,  haymaking,  and  harvesting. 

From  an  analysis  of  the  cost-accounting  data  from  farms  using 
horses  only,  it  is  estimated  that  such  farms  could,  in  general,  displace 
22.1  percent  of  their  horses  if  a  tractor  were  added  to  the  equipment, 
and  under  the  most  favorable  conditions  could  displace  34.4  percent 
of  their  horses.  For  the  one  hundred  farms  studied  in  the  tractor 
survey,  the  average  horse  displacement  actually  effected  when  the 
tractor  was  added  was  20.6  percent.  The  horse  displacement  effected 
by  the  twenty-four  farms  which  made  the  best  use  of  their  horses  and 
tractors  combined  was  33.1  percent. 

Advantages  of  the  Tractor. — The  principal  advantage  in  the  use  of 
the  farm  tractor  comes  thru  the  actual  displacement  of  horses.  The 
tractor  may  also  have  some  advantage  in  relieving  the  horses  which 
cannot  be  displaced  of  some  of  the  heaviest  work  during  the  peak-load 
periods,  and  also  in  speeding  up  the  work. 

Of  the  one  hundred  farms  included  in  the  tractor  survey,  none  re- 
ported increases  in  crop  yield  as  an  advantage  secured  by  using  the 
tractor.  It  is  evident  that  such  increases,  if  there  were  any,  would 
be  difficult  for  the  farmer  to  determine  accurately,  especially  for  so 
short  a  period  as  that  covered  by  these  studies. 

Relatively  little  saving  in  man  labor  was  effected  by  the  use  of 
the  tractor. 


1921]  THE  HORSE  AND  THE  TRACTOR  223 


CONCLUSIONS 

Judging  from  the  experience  of  farmers  as  based  on  the  costs  of 
using  both  horses  and  tractors,  as  well  as  from  all  other  data  avail- 
able, we  may  conclude  that  on  the  average  corn-belt  farms  grow- 
ing less  than  240  acres  of  crop,  the  horse  costs  cannot  be  reduced 
enough  to  offset  the  cost  of  operating  a  tractor.  This  does  not  mean, 
however,  that  every  corn-belt  farm  with  more  than  240  acres  should 
use  a  tractor,  nor  that  smaller  farms  will  always  find  a  tractor  un- 
profitable, for  other  factors  than  area  must  necessarily  be  taken  into 
consideration,  but  240  acres  is  the  best  approximate  expression  of  size. 
Most  important  among  these  other  factors  are  the  following : 

1.  The  annual  cost  of  keeping  horses  on  a  given  farm  may  be  above 
or  below  the  average.    In  1918  these  costs  varied  from  $125  to  $192 
per  horse  on  the  farms  studied.     Obviously  with  the  higher  cost  of 
keeping  horses,   a  smaller  number  would   have  to  be  displaced  to 
justify  the  use  of  a  tractor,  and  conversely,  the  lower  cost  would 
necessitate  the  displacement  of  a  larger  number. 

2.  There  may  be  a  special  need  for  belt  power  on  a  farm  or  in  the 
neighborhood,  which  would  help  to  provide  profitable  work  for  the 
tractor. 

3.  The  tractor  operator  may  be  above  or  below  the  average  in  effi- 
ciency.   At  present  this  factor,  which  is  a  very  important  one,  is  ex- 
tremely variable.    Steady  operation,  low  repair  costs,  and  a  low  rate 
of  depreciation  go  with  the  efficient  operator;   while  the  contrary  is 
true  with  the  inefficient  operator. 

Naturally  when  all  three  of  the  above  factors  are  in  favor  of  the 
tractor,  the  farm  on  which  it  can  be  profitably  used  may  have  consid- 
erably less  than  240  acres  of  crops.  When  all  these  factors  are  against 
the  tractor,  it  will  not  prove  a  profitable  investment  even  on  the  larg- 
est farms  in  the  corn-belt. 


A  GOOD  FOUR-CYLINDER  MOTOR 
Here  there  is  weight,  action,  and  plenty  of  reserve  power. 


A  POPULAR  TYPE  OF  TWO-PLOW  TRACTOR 
Doing  a  good  job  of  soil  preparation. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS-URBANA 


